So, It’s been a while. It looks as things have gotten a little wilder while I was gone. Marvel decided to publish books where they turned characters like Slapstick into Flagello, the Flagellation Man. Superman won’t stop crying over at DC. There have been so many shocks and surprises and the internet just can’t be broken anymore. It’s become tougher, like when you tear a phone book into pieces and eventually it just won’t rip anymore. It’s just too hard to find good content out there. How do you tell who’s who and what’s what in this new world out there? Don’t worry, people. I’m back to comfort and guide. Welcome to the world outside B@N. Welcome to Meanwhile….

It all started early last week when a Newsarama poster by the name of Alexander Knox calls out Chris Sims of Invincible Super-Blog fame (If we can call it that. I mean, come on, he writes for Cracked.) in the thread Everything Sucks-ism.

Sometimes the blogs can be really inspired.
Like the one guy (Absorbacon? Comic Treadmill?) who has extensive annotations and indexing for the wacky Bob Haney/Jim Aparo “Brave and the Bold” comic. He points out how goofy and nonsensical they are, for sure, but he also draws your attention to the things that are fun about those comics. You can tell he does it out of love rather than to make himself look smart by comparison.

That’s the kind of stuff I like to see. www.progressiveruin.com is a non-snarky blog that is a lot of fun to read. Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog, not so much.

A couple of points before I go on.

1)I don’t understand how anyone can read Chris’ ISB and not realize he actually loves those crazy comics, specifically Aparo and Haney comics.

2) I think he meant The Comic Treadmill when he mentions the annotations site, and

3) Just look at these Google results. Bob Haney and the ISB and Jim Aparo and the ISB.

I think you can see from those results that when Chris uses words like “ridiculously awesome works of Bob Haney” and “OMG THAT’S SO AWESOME! JIM APARO DREW BATMAN PUNCHING THAT GUYS FACE OFF!!” (ok, I paraphrased a little) it’s out of love for the work.

Do you know who doesn’t particularly love Jim Aparo’s art? The Absorbacon (Run by Scipio. He of the many colored links.), one of the blogs that Mr. Knox mentions as being a blog he enjoys. Here’s evidence of Scipio’s Aparo Antipathy.

My question to you today isn’t really about Lester; it’s about the Fall From Grace syndrome among comic book writers and artists. Who has suffered such a fall and why?

Frank Miller will seem a likely candidate to many. But I think upon sober reflection I’ve concluded didn’t become a hack; we all simply finalized realized it. Some may say Jim Aparo’s worked faded badly, but I would disagree; I still say it was always terrible.

Pardon me if this question seems too negative. But many of you have followed the careers of writers and artists more closely than I (who have been more preoccupied with the history of characters) and I seek your wisdom…

Is this the sign of a split between comic bloggers? Will battle lines be drawn between those who love Aparo and those who don’t? Maybe that Phone Book can be torn in half just one more time. We’ll be watching this story closely to find out.

Knox did get one thing right in his post. Progressive Ruin is pretty cool.

An Interview With Becky Cloonan

National Comic Book Day

James Jean’s Cover Process

Comics Reporter Covers DC’s Colorforms

Questionable Activities

Marketing Monday

Cultural and Artistic Elitism

The Other Meanwhile

STFU Blogosphere

Comics as Politics

On a Lark

Fight Fight Fight

Moore Inspiration

A New 52

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