LINK: Defending Ronée

My official statement on the whole Ronée + Soma/Brownstein affair went up on PCS earlier this week, and reaction so far has been mostly what I'd hoped: muted and, I daresay, somewhat chastened.

Official Statement on "What A Girl Wants" Controversy

Based on my own internal investigation of the information Ms. Bourgeois had available before and after her initial column was published, I have concluded that she has only been guilty of being extremely passionate in her coverage of this story. While that passion may have led to her prematurely reporting the allegations, unable as she was to offer any details, I find it rather disingenuous that some have chosen to make her the poster child for everything that is wrong with comics journalism.

Our two most vocal critics, Heidi MacDonald and Graeme MacMillan, both linked to it without much comment, though the former conveniently condenses it to perhaps its least important point, while the latter curiously links to Heidi's earlier misleading screed that attempted to discredit Buzzscope while not referencing his own similarly harsh commentary on the situation. I suspect The Comics Journal's recent update might have come as a bit of a surprise to both of them, realizing the case wasn't anywhere near as closed as they apparently thought. Imagine that?

Meanwhile, Michael Netzer is on a one-man crusade to defend Taki for his [not unreasonable] perception of the unbalanced coverage the story has received ever since Brownstein was outed by the Journal as her alleged attacker. He's particularly tough on Chris Staros and Heidi MacDonald. Apparently the guy has a reputation for being something of a crackpot, but his postings on this particular subject have been mostly reasonable, especially compared to the hysterical and/or hypocritical posts of some other uninformed and/or clearly biased spectators. Of course, in comics, being considered a crackpot is pretty good company to be in, joining the certifiable likes of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Frank Miller, so more power to the guy.

For the record, this will also be the last time I comment on the story until the case is resolved and the people directly involved can speak freely and on the record.

POLL: Niche Comics Sites?

Thinking "aloud" here...

NEWSarama and CBR have gobbled up two of the better group blogs out there recently, while peripheral niche sites like the Ninth Art are shutting down. Meanwhile, the sleeping giant, Wizard, is finally doing something with their web site, already snagging exclusive columns from Bendis and Johns, and likely becoming the new home for most Marvel and DC exclusives. How long before they start to siphon off some of NEWSarama and CBR's audience and firmly position themselves as one of the top three comics sites? Six months, tops?

When I think of the other comics sites, including The Pulse and PopCultureShock, there's a sense of them all being sort of like the WB and UPN, valiant efforts that will never compete with the big boys and realistically shouldn't even try. I mean, seriously, what's the point of second-tier sites other than to add to the information clutter?

In the past, I've thought the right approach would be a la Wizard Edge -- a broad, exclusive focus on indies -- but I realize that, like "the black vote" and "Yankees fans", there's no such thing as an easily categorizable "indie fan", not in the monolothic sense that marketing generally works by at least.

Niche sites then -- like niche cable stations and indie publishers with specific target demographics, ie: MTV, Spike TV, IDW and Moonstone -- would seem to make the most sense, filling in the gaps the major sites can't, or don't want to, get into and cover properly. Sequential Tart, The Comic Foundry and The Comics Reporter are great examples, as are Prism Comics and, to a lesser degree, the Museum of Black Superheroes (which I just noticed has added Rich Watson's Glyphs blog under its umbrella recently).

What other ones are out there, and what other niches aren't being served, or are being underserved?

Also, for extra credit, how would you describe your ideal niche site, regardless of the specific niche? Previews? Interviews? eStore? Forums?

On the Shelves: 6/7/06

Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month.

My weekly look at select comic books being released Thursday, 6/8/06. The full shipping is list available at ComicList.

[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]

PICK OF THE WEEK


Action Philosophers Vol 1: Giant-Size Thing

BOOM! STUDIOS
Tag #1 (Of 3), $3.99

Zombies...with a twist! Actually, this first issue sets up a fun premise, as the child's game of Tag is perverted into the method of transmission that infects the tagged while curing the tagger, and the answers to the mystery behind it can be found on the internet. One of Keith Giffen's better efforts to come from Boom! so far, and Kody (Punks) Chamberlain is perfectly suited for it.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Archenemies #3 (Of 4), $2.99
Star Wars Legacy #0, $0.25

Archenemies has actually been a pretty fun read so far, as the extremely odd coupling is played for laughs and it mostly works. If you have a spare $3, you could do much worse. *** I've never been into the Star Wars adaptations, in any medium, but the recent Boba Fett one-shot was entertaining and got me curious. That this Legacy preview -- taking place 100 years after Return of the Jedi -- is by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, though, would be enough to get me to check it out even if it was a relaunch of Crystar. (Which I wouldn't mind seeing anyway. **ahem**)

DC COMICS
Detective Comics #820, $2.99
Jonah Hex #8, $2.99
JSA #86, $2.99
Wonder Woman #1, $2.99

A depressingly light week from the Diminished Competition, but since I'm dramatically slashing my pull list anyway, I guess it's a blessing in disguise *** The previous issue of the "Face-to-Face" crossover was rather disappointing, but I'm still onboard with the overall feel of OYL Batman and Gotham City. Curious to see when/if the new Batwoman pops up since she's technically been around for the 40 weeks or so prior to this story arc, and how they reconcile her presumed crime-fighting (not to mention Renee Montoya and the Question) when supposedly Harvey Dent was the only one holding down the fort. It's also interesting that now both Batman and Superman (in Shadowpact #1) have been shown running around the DCU when they were supposed to be way out-of-town and depowered, respectively. So much for years of planning and tightly coordinated continuity! *** In cutting back my pull list, I wasn't sure what to do about Jonah Hex, a title I'm enjoying well enough but suffers a bit from its lack of a connection to anything else I'm reading from DC. When it comes to Marvel and DC, I'm generally looking for my capes and spandex fix -- and to a lesser degree, that sense of a larger shared universe -- so it almost feels like the money I spend on Hex is taking away from my non-superhero budget. If it were a Vertigo title, I probably wouldn't feel the same way, which of course makes no sense at all, but that's why fan is short for fanatic, I guess! *** JSA never really grabbed me, but I am looking forward to its relaunch, thanks as much to their presence in the Vs. TCG (and my current team of choice when playing) than anything else. Hopefully Johns delivers some solid character-driven storytelling like he did the first year and a half or so on Teen Titans. *** Am I wrong for having zero interest in Wonder Woman? Like Superman, the character has never interested me in the slightest, though I was intrigued by what I'd read about Rucka's take on her before Infinite Crisis derailed things. There's something inherently silly about most of DC's major (and minor) icons -- though I've recently learned that Green Lantern no longer suffers from a weakness to all things yellow -- and my inability to connect to any of them largely comes from a sense of their being created powers-first, character-second. Probably explains why Batman and his various unpowered partners and rogues have always been my favorites.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Declassified Manapul Cvr A #1 (Of 3), $4.95

Larry Hama returns to the scene of the crime! I was a casual fan on the original Marvel series back in the day, but Back Issue #16 has a great interview with Hama about those glory days that really got me excited about seeing his return to the characters he effectively created.

EVIL TWIN COMICS
Action Philosophers Vol 1 Giant Sized Thing TPB, $6.95

I have the individual issues, but if you slept on them, pick this Giant Sized Thing up and enjoy! You'll laugh, you'll learn, you'll be hooked.

IMAGE COMICS
Hector Plasm De Mortuis One Shot, $5.99

Hector Plasm was one of my favorite entries from the short-lived Western Tales of Terror anthology series (Hey, Villard! How about putting out a collection of that one?), a sort of Old West Ghostbuster, so I'm looking forward to this. Kind of steep cover price, though, so it better be a double-sized issue.

MARVEL COMICS
Civil War Front Line #1 (Of 10), $2.99

Wow, the House of Ideas comes up short this week, too! I was somewhat intrigued by Front Lines' premise, but it falls victim to the Great Pull List Purge of the Summer of Ought-Six. Might check it out in TPB if it gets good reviews.

NEW DIMENSION COMICS
Backstreet Boys Backstreet Project #1 Collectors Ed, $3.95

Um...what?!?! --hits Google-- Ah! New Dimension apparently bought Stan Lee Media and are now the "exclusive source for the rare BSB comic book and extra goodies. Best of all, weown [sic] ALL of the production artwork for the BSB 'webisodes'. We can never show it all, but if you have a favorite character, we can try to dig up a nice one for you. Just e-mail us!" Jim Salicrup offered some interesting background on this "rare" comic, including this little tidbit: "At an outrageous ten dollars a copy, the first printing quickly grossed a million dollars." That works out to 100,000 copies sold, a certifiable hit by today's standards. Interesting that New Dimension seems to believe that BSB still has enough of a fanbase that they can get $3.95/copy for this "rarity" in the direct market. Of course, real fans will prefer the variant edition: "Backstreet Project Comic - Hand Sketched Edition. Only 99 Copies Exisit! [sic] Each with a drawing of Nick Carter on the cover. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity. $24.99" Yikes!

PANTHEON BOOKS
Embroideries SC, $10.95

Finally read both volumes of Persepolis (soon to be an animated movie!), which not only did I enjoy, but my wife loved, too. (And she actually read them before me, which was a first!) I'll be picking Embroideries up to complete the quasi-trilogy.

SALT PETER PRESS
Lump Vol 1 TPB, $14.95

There's something very wrong about naming your comics publishing company after what has long been believed -- mistakenly, BTW -- to be an anaphrodisiac. And yet, there's a certain poetry to it, too.

HYPE: Elk's Run Hits the Big Time

First the Harvey Awards, now this:

Villard Acquires Rights to Elk's Run

New York, NY - June 5, 2006 - Villard, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that it will be publishing Elk's Run by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon. The graphic novel will collect the complete eight-issue comic book series, and will give readers their first opportunity to finally read the story all the way through to its explosive conclusion.

I believe that's what you call a "Fuck, yeah!" moment, yes?

Congrats to Joshua, Noel and the rest of the Elk's Run crew.

REVIEW: Battlestar Galactica #0

It's pretty hard to bring a story from one medium to another. I love the new Galactica so hard. There's been virtually no secondary products to go along with it. This lack of capitalism makes the inner child cry. No joke. I want more than one novelization, more than a soundtrack, more than an okay video game... I want my world to be enveloped by Galactica. I want "Property of Battlestar Galactica Athletics" t-shirts. I want helmets. I want commemorative statuettes of Starbuck. I want replicas of Roslin's declarations.

So you can imagine how gleeful I was about the comic. OMG! They're making a comic! OMG! Greg Pak is writing it? OMG! Finally something to hold me over until season three starts... in... in... OMG! It's too far away. After the child inside chilled out, the fanboy took over. OMG! THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP EVAAR!!! One wonders how I can contain so many conversations in my pretty little head.

An aside for you, the reader, to know where I'm coming from: You've got your purists, you've got your fanboys, you've got the guys who'll measure a sleeve to decide whether the decorative cuff is an inch off. I'm of the belief that, 1. You need to stay true to the original material; 2. You need to make your adaptation better than the original or there's no point to what you are doing; 3. There's probably something else I'm forgetting right now.

Greg Pak wrote, directed, and starred in the critically acclaimed Robot Stories. Having made a movie that is such a refreshing departure from what you'd think a movie about robots would be, he's the natural choice to handle an adaptation of a reimagining of a fairly standard-issue science fiction television show.

An aside for you people who think the original Galactica is better than the new one: The new show is better. It took the idea of the first one and improved on it. It's revolutionizing how we tell science fiction stories. It has raised the bar on what we expect a sci-fi show to be. No longer just the playground of people whose emotional development was stunted when they first saw their own pubic hairs, sci-fi programming can be aimed towards those whose sophistication reaches into social commentary that is not camp nor ridiculous.

Spoilers might be in this paragraph... I don't know... I get confused because other people read stories to be surprised. I read stories to see how someone tells a story.

Once he grounds you on when in the overall story his is taking place, Pak captures the relationship between Commander William Adama and President Laura Roslin. He shows the conflict between Starbuck and William Adama as the former seeks forgiveness from the latter. What's brilliant is how he is able to capture the silence that Wm. Adama uses to communicate. He further develops Wm. Adama's question, "Why does humanity deserve to survive?" Plus, he creates a story hook that made me want issue one even more.

Somehow all that happens and Pak still manages to hint that he'll be better able to explore the moments in between episodes. For example, in the series a lot happens between William Adama and his son Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama. However, we only get enough to understand where they are. Can you imagine if Ronald D. Moore and company had, say, an extra 20 - 30 pages to flesh out the one or two lines of dialogue between father and son?

What does the Inner Fanboy have to say about all this?

Inner Fanboy
Why's he got to pander? Don't you feel like he made it soooo accessible to people who haven't watched the show?

Omar
It is an issue zero... Pak has to make it so that new and old readers can jump in at any point. It's an industry-wide, constant battle to not alienate potential new readers. Nothing is as dissatisfying than to read something and not know what's going on.

Inner Fanboy
But aren't you reading all those Year One Laters without knowing what the hell is going on?

Omar
That's different. The Year One Later titles... they.... ok, you have a good point. But Dynamite isn't DC, and I'm sure they're accountable to the Galactica people in some way so there's a lot of compromise going on.

Inner Fanboy
But the Galactica show doesn't make it easy for new viewers to jump in. They're all in medias res, all the time.

Omar
While that is true, the comic is a different situation with different hurdles. Ultimately, I don't think it's a bad thing that Pak is trying to make this very detailed story accessible. He's remaining true to the show. Considering this is the first story, I think it shows great promise. I think they're going to be able to delve deep into the Galactica mythos in a way they cannot in the show. I hope they explore the first Cylon war through Wm. Adama and Tigh's memories. I hope they detail the history of the colonies. I hope they develop Asian male characters that don't get killed so fast.

An aside for you people not watching the new Galactica: What in the hell are you people smoking? Get on your couch and watch that shidd!

Inner Fanboy
You just want them to create a character that becomes so popular that they write him into the show and you get cast as him, don't you?

Omar
I'm just saying, I'm willing to move to Vancouver for my art...

Battlestar Galactica #0 is available from Dynamite Entertainment at the bargain price of 25 cents.

PANEL: Artesia Besieged #1

Artesia Besieged #1
By Mark Smylie
June 2006, Archaia Studios Press

COMMENT: Pull List Massacre, Part II

A couple of months back I did my first round of Pull List pruning, in anticipation of some real world changes necessitating a decreased comics budget, as well as a shift towards "emphasizing comfort over experimentation" in my selections. Originally I was expecting to cut it roughly in half, to $75/month (including my hefty discount), with another $25/month towards sampling and/or TPBs. Now I'm thinking $50/month with a much more selective eye towards sampling might be in order.

Thankfully, several mini-series I was buying have ended or have only an issue or two left, so it wasn't quite as painful as I thought it would be. One of the biggest losers is Image, though, whose erratic shipping schedule means almost all of their titles I was following will shift over to my sampling budget, which unfortunately means they're effectively cut. Reality bites.

Italicized titles are on the chopping block, either outright or via wait-for-the-trade.

Marvel
All-New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A-Z
Black Panther
Captain America
Civil War
Daredevil
Incredible Hulk ("Planet Hulk")
Moon Knight
Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E.
Powers Vol 2
Thunderbolts
X-Factor
Young Avengers

DC
All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder
Batman
Blue Beetle
Detective Comics
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
Jonah Hex
Robin
Shadowpact
Teen Titans

American Way
Ex Machina

Dark Horse
Conan (plus all mini-series)

IDW
Fallen Angel
Supermarket

Image
Fell
Godland
Hysteria: One Man Gang
Strange Girl

Independents
Action Philosophers!
Atomika
Black Coat: Call To Arms
Elk's Run
Elsinore
Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy
G.I. Joe: America's Elite (and most mini-series)
Mouse Guard
Nat Turner
Revolution On The Planet Of The Apes
Super Real
Talent
Tron: The Ghost In The Machine
Villains
Werewolves: Call Of The Wild

Clearly there's more cutting to be done to get down to $50/month, though the majority of the Independents are short mini-series so there's some flexibililty there over time. DC's One Year Later has mostly been a wash for me, with several of the titles I added a couple of months ago already on the chopping block. Marvel faces a similar fate depending on how they handle Civil War, though at this moment, I'm thoroughly enjoying everything from them that remains on my list, and the two series on the chopping block are purely budgetary sacrifices.

What are YOU buying on a regular basis?

POLL: Simply the Best -- Marvel & DC

Regardless of what you think of superhero comics in general, there's no denying that over the years some of the greatest fictional characters ever created were birthed within the DC and Marvel Universes. Recently, a list of the Top 50 Marvel and DC characters were put forth by Andrew Wheeler and The Great Curve, respectively, so I thought I'd weigh in with my own less ambitious, but arguably more difficult, Top 5 list from each company.

My choices are totally subjective, of course, and in some cases reflect the potential of a character as opposed to its actual history. (In some cases, despite its actual history!) Join in the fun, either in the comments, or your own blog.

TOP 5 MARVEL CHARACTERS


5) Kraven the Hunter: My 1st and 5th choices are perhaps a bit ironic as I've never really considered myself a big Spider-Man fan, but "Kraven's Last Hunt" is one of only a handful of specific story arcs I still remember fondly from my early days of reading comics. It's the rare "villain's perspective" story that really works, making Kraven one of the most fascinatingly complex villains in either stable.


4) Jamie Madrox: With the extremely well-written Madrox mini-series from a little while back, Peter David catapulted Madrox onto my Top 5 list by delving into the psychological aspects of his powers in a rather fascinating manner. A rare instance of a character's specific power being a viable foundation to build from.


3) Moon Knight/et al: People who consider him Marvel's Batman clone simply don't know what they're talking about. A fertile backstory, multiple personalities and one of the coolest costumes ever. 'Nuff said.


2) Tony Stark/Iron Man: Like the best Marvel characters, Tony Stark's strength lies more in his civilian identity than his armored alter ego. Flawed, human and immensely relatable, he is perhaps even more potentially relevant in today's era of technological dependency and corporate greed than he has been at any other time.


1) Peter Parker/Spider-Man: It took the first Spider-Man movie to finally put all of the pieces together and make Peter Parker really click for me. I've always been a bigger fan of the concept -- everyman gets amazing powers, still has to deal with everyday life -- than the comics themselves, though Paul Jenkins' aborted run on the most recent Spectacular Spider-Man had me hooked until the Disassembled story arc derailed it.

TOP 5 DC CHARACTERS


5) Cassandra Cain/Batgirl: Trained to be a killer practically from birth, her determined struggle to do good (and to learn how to read and talk) had the potential for greatness during Andersen Gabrych's short, Infinite Crisis-derailed tenure. Take the same concept and work it outside of the limiting constraints of the Bat-family and you've got a winner in the right hands.


4) Superman: He's as much a cipher as any minority character ever introduced into the Marvel or DC universes, but denying him a spot in the Top 5 would be indefensible. At his best, he is defined more by his supporting cast than his own actions, but if nothing else, Smallville has shown that there is a viable angle to the character, simultaneously the parallel and opposite of Peter Parker: what do you do when you're effectively able to conquer the world?


3) Lex Luthor: The first four issues of Brian Azzarello's recent Lex Luthor: Man of Steel mini-series offered the most compelling take I've ever seen of the character, an undeniable genius driven mad by pride, the deadliest of the seven sins and the only thing that really separates him from Tony Stark.


2) The Joker: Though I've never been plagued by the seemingly universal fear of clowns, the Joker's freakish appearance makes him the perfect foil for a hero who seeks to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Underneath that surface appearance, though, is an unpredictable sociopath with no particular agenda other than to cause mayhem. I am also one of the few who apparently enjoyed A.J. Lieberman's take on his origin in Gotham Knights #54, revisionist as it may have been, as I thought it fleshed out the character nicely and managed to make him a bit sympathetic.


1) Batman: He's the goddamned Batman! What other reason do you possibly need?

(All cover shots courtesy of Grand Comic Book Database.)

HYPE: Glyphs Anniversary

I don't usually pay much attention to blog anniversarys -- hell, I missed acknowledging our own by a few days last year -- but there's a handful of truly essential blogs out there that I think are deserving of kudos. Without a doubt, one of them is Rich Watson's Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community. While the majority of us out here in the comics blogiverse are merely shooting off at the mouthkeyboard, Rich is providing what I believe is an important service to the comics community.

Go wish him a happy one year anniversary.

PS: Someone needs to design Rich a nice logo for Glyphs; both for the blog and the awards.