The comic blogosphere seems to grow larger every day and just like comics, sometimes it’s pretty easy to get a little lost. “Meanwhile …” will act as your map, pointing out what interesting discussions are happening out there while you’re reading Blog@Newsarama.
A few words about the process I use for writing “Meanwhile…” before we start. A behind the scenes look, if you will.
I start off with a list of blogs, now numbering close to 250, that you can find on my sidebar at Near-Mint Heroes. I then open each one up in the browser and go through each and every blog listed to see if there is anything interesting going on. For this version of “Meanwhile…” I came up with 84 links. That’s a little too many so I have to narrow it down further. Then I set down to write the little verbage around the links, find a lyric for the title, and put everything in some kind of order that probably only I understand anyway. After that I go to sleep, wake up in the morning, look the column over one more time (usually fix a few links that I forgot to close) and it’s finished.
Anyway, this is all leading up to the making this two-part “Meanwhile…” column and also asking for some audience participation. If you, the readers of Meanwhile, see any new blogs that might not be on my list, or any interesting posts during the week, please send them to shane at nearmintheroes dot org. I’ll be sure to mention you when I link to the blog or post. Thanks in advance and I’m looking forward to seeing what I’m missing each week.
Now on with the links.
Meanwhile Part 1 of 2
The Lost Cover
20th Century Danny Boy presents The Greatest DC Comics Cover Never Told
“The Greatest DC Comics Stories Ever Told was a concept that originated out of Mike Gold’s editorial group. It was certainly a response to Marvel’s Masterworks books but DC’s idea was to pick out the best stories and stuff each book with the greatest hits. With Superman, Batman and The Joker versions under our belts the production department was confident we could process the 4th edition, The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told (1989), in record time. That wouldn’t be the case as this book could only be described by the old cliché of having too many cooks in the kitchen. The assistant art director had great ideas but just far too many for one book to deal with. What should have been a simple job became very tiring and the book shows too many inconsistencies in its final presentation.
“One glaring inconsistency still haunts me to this day.
Why the Outsiders Suck
Are you Feelin Big Mike? posts his Obligatory DC vs. Marvel Post
Despite the fact that creators bounce between companies and write for both at the same time, there are very few readers out there who wouldn’t agree that the respective ethos of Marvel and DC are very different. The characters themselves are distinct, and attempts to Marvelize DC and DCize Marvel inevitably result in calamity (hence, why the Outsiders suck).
Platinum Doesn’t Have a Sterling Reputation
Bags and Boards talks about all the recent Platinum studios news, both good and bad, and offers a little advice to aspiring creators.
But this should still serve as a reminder to creators not to sign away the rights to their ideas if they have a problem with losing control of it. The state of the industry is nowhere near as limiting for creator ownership as it was in the the Golden Age or even of the 1970s, when Marv Wolfman and Steve Gerber created characters for Marvel that became the subject of later lawsuits over ownership.
Cross Stigma
Big Time Attic (the blog of Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, and Shad Petosky) examines the crosshatching technique.
Crosshatching has an “old-fashioned” stigma, probably for good reason: drawing lines side-by-side, and then on top of each other, is a great solution to a problem inherent in pen & ink drawing and printmaking: How do you make a drawing tonal if all you have to work with is black and white?
With digital tools at our disposal, as well as relatively new products like Zipotone, Craftint and DuoShade, it’s easy to see why crosshatching isn’t considered cutting edge. However, I don’t personally believe that a technique in itself can be old-fashioned; I think that comes out of how the artist uses the technique.
Here’s a short comic by them about a little web cam incedent.
Troy Tempest is an awesome name.
1960’s TV Comics! View all the wonderful comicy goodness thanks to “Blimey! It’s another blog about comics”, which is a very cool name for a comics blog.
Subscribe Now and Save!
Bully Says: Subscription ads oughta be fun!
That’s a lot of work for a lazy post.
Mike Sterling polls his readers and replies here and here.
1. What is the one thing you’d like to see more of in your comic books? (Aside from “pages,” wiseguy.)
2. What is the one thing you never want to see again in your comics? (Please don’t answer this one with creators’ names…instead of saying “covers by M—- T—-,” try “improbable anatomy being presented as ’sexy,’” which is more or less the same thing.)
Top Shelf Celebrates the Diamond Anniversary
Top Shelf’s story is an important one in the overall emergence of comics as a mainstream artform over the past decade, and I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Chris and Brett on ten great years. I’m looking forward to the next ten even more.
and Tom Spurgeon sits down for a chat with Brett Warnock.
The truth is, I’ve been reflecting on this often since last Summer with the release of Lost Girls, and more than anything I just feel thankful that I’ve been able to do this for the last ten years at all. In spite of the platitudes about following one’s whim (which I believe in wholeheartedly), it’s not always as easy as that, and yet here I am, ten years on, and I have indeed been living my dream. Like with having children, the time seems to have flown by, and yet I can’t really quite imagine my life before Top Shelf.
Johanna also lists to some of Top Shelf’s books she’s enjoyed over the years.
Alternate Histories
Again With the Comics shows us what really happened during the Revolutionary War.
I’m Kevin Church and You’re Not
Kevin Church’s Comic News Post reminds me of SNL’s Weekend Update, but for comics.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is urgently looking for help with the Gordon Lee trial, which is slated to start on the week of August 13. County prosecutors in Georgia have sought to convict Lee on two felony counts and five misdemeanors. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has successfully knocked out all but two of the remaining misdemeanor counts of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material and is hoping to take care of the rest in short order.
Said a spokesperson: “We’ve not seen local law enforcement vigorously pursue such a minor charge since 1977’s Coors smuggling incident.”
Look, Ma! I’m on TV!
Congrats to Between The Staples for being featured on G4’s Attack of the Show.
Obsession for Fans
Collector’s Quest is a nice blog that I’m sure comic fans will get a kick out of.
This post about what to do with old albums is particularly fun.
But it got me thinking. It wasn’t the first time I found a ‘buy-one-get-ninety-free’ deal on LPs. I’d recently bought a charming 1960s record carrier for only two dollars…. but I had to take the Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand records that were inside it also. I turned over two dollars, and a small portion of my immortal soul, and brought the whole lot home. WHAT on Earth could I do with this collection of unwanted record albums? I had to think of something fast - I was pretty sure that the restless spirit of Neil Diamond was trying to touch my in my sleep.
As it turns out, I could do a whole heck of a lot with unwanted albums. The craft brigade is mighty, and they have a propensity towards the ‘retro’.
Has anyone done anything interesting with old ratty comics beyond repair? I’ve seen people frame them, wallpaper them, etc. Has anyone made a mobile out of cut-out figures? Anything? I’m curious.
Barry’s back…wait…no, my bad. Is he back now? No? Damn. How about now?
Comic Coverage presents what amounts to a Barry Allen F.A.Q. in Barry Allen: Answering the Skeptics.
Q: Geez, you’re pretty bitter about this, aren’t you?”
A: Actually, no. I mean, it’s been over twenty years, so I’ve long since gotten over it. Plus, there’s that little detail of Barry not being real that convinced me pretty quickly to move on.
Monster Mash
Please move all tray tables to the…oh I’m sorry m’am.
Heidi Meeley asks Is This Gratuitous?
This week’s candidate for gratuitous glory is the cover to Legion of Monsters: Satana #1. My first thought upon seeing this cover from Marvel is that Satana has obviously made a deal with dear old Dad and had several of her ribs removed, because I seldom see women with waists that small.
Coming Soon from DC: Seven Seas Saunders
I guess Arthur Curry wouldn’t cut it as a normal sounding name.
Suggestive Box
3. You don’t have to address/link to every cover controversy. This obviously doesn’t apply to When Fangirls Attack, whose raison d’etre is the accumulation of such links. But for the rest of us: if you think the outrage of the week is unjustified, you don’t have to condemn it. If you think the cover is basically kosher, you can say so. Or you can choose to just say nothing. Nobody’s going to deduct feminist street cred points for failing to condemn every subject of weekly outrage. I see a lot of posts which begin “I wasn’t going to comment on this, but….” Consider sticking with your initial impulse.
See the rest in a supersized “Meanwhile…” Part 2 Thursday, morning!
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