Project Comic-Con 2013 In Review.

The fourth-ever Project Comic-Con has just wrapped up, and boy was it a fun weekend! As I enjoy doing, I'll recap some of the things I saw and did there. In no particular order of guests I saw (and spoke with beyond a simple "hello" as I tried to interact with everyone!) and the stuff I bought, I now present, Comic-Con In Review!

Guests I Saw and Stuff I Got in No Particular Order

Fabian Nicieza
Probably the neatest person I saw because he had a lot of interesting stuff to say would be Fabian Nicieza. We talked about his work on "Cable and Deadpool" (which was an amazing series) and what he is up to now, along with general chatter about the comic-book industry. He has so much energy and enthusiasm, and is quite witty, which raised the question of why he hasn't been doing a monthly comic for a bit. Basically he has been busy working full-time with a trans-media company called, "Starlight Runner Entertainment," but did say he'd always be eager to write a comic. Hey Marvel, perhaps you'd like to do another "Cable and Deadpool" book, please?

Avatar Press
Avatar Press had a presence at Project Comic-Con in the form of a booth with all kinds of great comics for sale. I got a number of their books for myself and a "Night of the Living Dead" one as a present for someone I know who is a big zombie fan. Avatar is indeed a very cool publisher putting out some of my favorite stuff lately so I was happy to see them at the 'con.

Watsui The Talking Dog
Watsui is a web comic by Dale Martin for all-ages that is very cute. Dale was very nice and fun to chat with Project Comic-Con, encouraging guests to name a new character that will be in the comic. I hope my suggestion is picked!

The Prospector
Darren Neely was at the convention with an intriguing self-published series called "The Prospector" about a more-than-century-old prospector dealing with all sorts of crazy situations. I bought some issues and am eager to read them!

Gargoyle by Moonlight
I've talked about how I enjoyed the comic "Gargoyle by Moonlight" before, and chatted with one of its creators, Timothy Brach some more about it. It was fun seeing him again!

George Perez

Industry legend George Perez was at Project Comic-Con, doing sketches and signing things for folk. He has been having some vision problems lately and is wearing an eye-patch over his left eye, but that doesn't appear to have slowed him down one bit.

Shane Cash and Anthony Medina
Cash and Medina have a comic book they've put out with prose novels by Medina that elaborate upon the initial comic-book stories. It is a clever idea and looks neat!

Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort
"Superman" writer Scott Lobdell was in attendance along with the comic-book illustrator, Kenneth Rocafort. Their booth was buzzing with fans and Lobdell was nice enough to give me a signed comic when he saw I didn't have anything on me for him to sign, a nice guy.

Neal Fitzpatrick
I've reviewed a piece of Neil's work before and found it quite to my liking with its mixture of cute graphics and a funny dark cynicism. It was fun running into Neal again and seeing how he has been.

Todd Tevlin
Tevlin does a humorous comic called "Frik'in Hell that is about a medieval warrior who works in fast food. He was at the 'con and fun to talk with.

Jim Mahfood
Jim Mahfood was very friendly and had a lot of his stuff for sale, of which I purchased one of his comics because how can you say no to his awesome art? Mahfood and I talked about his drawing style, how he greatly enjoys working with Joe Casey (a writer whose work I love), and other comics we like.

Angelic Wars
Marcus J. Mosley was at Project Comic-Con to promote his self-published work about a war between heaven and hell, "Angelic Wars". I got a copy of the 1st and 2nd issue and it looks interesting!

Angus Oblong
He was there last year causing a ruckus as he always does, and Angus Oblong was at Project Comic-Con yet again, with his quirky and offensive-but-in-a-good-way humor in tow. Oblong is always a hoot and it was fun to see him again.

Unshaven Comics
The guys behind Unshaven Comics are Matt, Marc, and Kyle. I picked up the first two issues that have been released of their "Samurnauts" series, a comic about astronaut samurai who have a trainer that is a monkey and helps them fight aliens and zombies. Yes, it is pretty crazy. I also got a cool poster from them!

Joshua Dysart
Also at Project Comic-Con last year and back again was Joshua Dysart. He was promoting his new work with publisher Valiant with "Harbringer". I bought the 1st trade and he was kind enough to sign it.

Ink and Drink Comics
A collective of folk who have put out a comic's anthology every six months for the last three years, Ink and Drink Comics are a cool bunch of folk with some snazzy stuff.

Dirigible Days
Dirigible Days is a steampunk web-series that will be continuing in comic-book form. I enjoy steampunk and its aesthetics very much, so seeing all their gear was cool!

Eric Basaldua
Another return to the 'con was Eric Basadula. Well known for his artwork of various heroines that often is quite risque, Basaldua was friendly as usual and had a lot of prints to sell. I myself love his Weapon X drawing that goes against his usual form of suggestive drawings of ladies and wish he'd draw more of Wolverine too, but as he's pointed out in the past, it's the drawings of pretty ladies that pay the bills.

Wascally Wee Willy
A man who makes incredibly surreal collages from comics named William Harroff was at the 'con and I bought a really cool coaster from him. Weirdly fascinating stuff.

Masta J Wood
Also at last year's Project Comic-Con, Masta J Wood, or Jon Woodard as he is also known, does very snazzy comic illustrations that have a cool mish-mash feel of western art and a hint of an anime style.

Show Me Comics
The guys behind indie-publisher Show Me Comics were at Project Comic-Con promoting their work, "Hafu" which is a strip about a girl in small-town Japan who doesn't know here father has a secret that will change her life and bring in all sorts of complicated elements such as the mob. I bought myself a copy and look forward to reading it!

Amber Stone
Illustrator Amber Stone was at Project Comic-Con and fun to chat with about comics. I especially like how she'll put her art on bottles and give them a magical look, like a little glass bottle with an "eye of newt" logo.

Steve Seeley and Michael Moreci

The guys behind "Hoax Hunters" were at Project Comic-Con and eager to discuss their comic. They were very friendly and funny too!

Camden Bottoms
Camden Bottoms creator Scott Quick was at Project Comic-Con with his cool artwork to promote his web series.

Scott D.M. Simmons
Mr. Simmons was at the 'con talking about his various comics works, including a neat one about a super-hero mother who has children that then gain their own super-powers--but at the expense of hers! A neat guy.

The Comic Creators Coffee Club
The Comic Creators Coffee Club (or C4) was at Project Comic-Con inviting folk to attend their meetings where they talk about creating comics and such!

JP Roth
Creator JP Roth was at Project Comic-Con again this year with her lushly illustrated comic, "Ancient Dreams". It really has some gorgeous art.

Zenescope
Comic publisher Zenescope was in attendance, and I spoke with them about how I haven't read much of their stuff but was thinking of giving it a shot.

Z.O.D.
The nice folk of Z.O.D. (Zombification Orientation and Defense) were at the convention, telling people how to fight off zombies through disaster preperation methods from the Red Cross.

Stache Publishing
The group of people who make is "Stache Publishing" were at the 'con to promote their various works, and they were quite the energetic bunch!

Lastly, I got this cool drawing of Moon Knight as a lego figurine by a man named Kenny who was selling some of his work with various characters in that style and was happy to make me a drawing of one of my favorite characters. Very cool!

In Conclusion
It was fun attending Project Comic-Con for my second time and I am excited for the next show! My thanks to all the creators and vendors at the show, and of course, thank-you to Steve and Jeff for creating this amazing show!

Project Comic-Con is Tomorrow!

As readers may recall, last year I went to Project Comic-Con and did a big write up about it (part one is here and part two can be found at this link). Well, it is time this year's Project Comic-Con and I couldn't be more excited!

If you happen to live in the Saint Louis-region or are visiting it I strongly encourage you to check out the event and have a great time, I know I will! Should you see me there or hear someone babbling on about, "The Newest Rant," then it is probably me and I encourage you to say hello. See you all at the 'con!

For more information about Project Comic-Con visit their website at this link.

Marvel is Doing Their Numbering for "Inhumanity" and Other Comics in a Way that is Either Genius or Terrible

Inhumanity is a sort-of event coming from Marvel in a matter of months--and is spinning directly out of the "Infinity" event that is going on. I say it is only sort-of an event because it seems there is no main event comic in the sense we lacking a special mini-series. There is a Matt Fraction-penned ongoing comic with the name "Inhumanity", and some comics tying in to the spectacle, but this just doesn't have that "major event" feel. The strangest thing about the "Inhumanity" non-event however is definitely how Marvel are numbering tie-in comics. A series has its normal numbering, so if a comic just finished its 21st issue the next one will be the 22nd, but it will have a little ".INH" next to it. Therefore, "Avengers Assemble #22.INH" will be at your comic shop instead of a comic just simply titled, "Avengers Assemble #22" because it happens to tie into Inhumanity going-ons.

There are problems though. For example, please keep in the mind the actual minis and the main comic won't apparently have this logo though. Another issue is that comics already do so many weird numbering schemes that this could easily back-fire and confuse people when they try to organize their comics or even know what order to read new releases. In fairness, the clever part is how this makes it absolutely clear how whatever comic with a .INH you see is a tie-in to Inhumanity. Basically, this is either one of the best ideas ever or absolutely horrible, and I'm not sure which category it truly is, even after looking at those aforementioned pros and cons.

Why does a mini-series for "Inhumanity" not have the ".INH",
but yet ongoing comics that tie-in with the event somewhat less do?

Between Marvel's whole messing with "Point One" comics, DC following suit with Villain's Month's insane numbering(and the company's own huge re-launch a couple of years ago), "Age of Ultron" having its own weird numbering scheme, and any other kinds of numbering-mayhem, it is clear that messing too much with the digits that accompany a comic can cause trouble. One saving grace for this is that it isn't a case where you have an issue of a comic and another one with the same numbering but an additional ".INH". No, the one with the ".INH" is the actual only comic. That keeps things from being too much of a nightmare for an earlier-mentioned potential collector who wants to organize everything, but if some of the comics such as the main series won't even have a ".INH" it seems really odd.

Marvel isn't just doing this little trick with their "Inhumanity" comics either, you have some of the comics that are a part of its big "Marvel Now" branding starting to carry their usual numbers and a ".NOW" logo. Therefore, we have "Avengers #24.NOW" alongside the aforementioned, "Avengers Assemble #22.INH" and we should not forget, "Avengers: Age of Ultron and Infinity Aftermath #1.INH.NOW" which doesn't actually exist but could soon enough at the rate we are are going with all the Avenger comics and weird numbering schemes. Oh, and not even all the comics in this upcoming 2nd-wave of Marvel NOW will be have that logo, a new Invaders comic, appropriately titled, "All-New Invaders" lacks it. Ummmm, what?

It is actually the 24th issue, but has a #24.NOW,
plus there is a logo about how this is the first issue of a new story.
This is getting silly.

Clearly this can go a variety of ways, and who knows if the comics will even be good enough for it to matter? Matt Fraction can make some incredible stuff ("Casanova", "Hawkeye") but then will sometimes turn out tripe such as "Fear Itself". I am excited that Warren Ellis of all people will be co-writing some of those "Avengers Assemble" comics with Kelly Sue Deconnick--especially as their little collaboration on a back-up story that appeared in the amazing "Osborn" series was quite stellar. It is just odd that Ellis seems to literally be popping in and doing a little scripting for a book as if he were some sort of fill-in writer (which do exist, although fill-in art is more common).

I'm unsure if all of these ".INH" and ".NOW" signifiers next to a comic's number will matter much in some years when folk could very well not remember what ".INH" even meant if the sorta-event bombs. Then again, should this non-event-event be a major success numbering could be greatly impacted on other comics from all sorts of publishers. DC could take the Batman "Zero Year" comic and make them have a ".Zero" next to the titles for all we know (okay, that is event is already going on so they aren't going to start that, but you know what I mean).

This "All-New Invaders" comic is a new Marvel NOW title,
but doesn't have a ".NOW"? What is going on here?

I'm genuinely interested to see how successful these comics are, and hope the stories turn out well. I won't be reading too many of them because I am both a bit tired of events and have gone into great detail about how I dropped and am continuing to drop a lot of comics from my pull-list to save money. Still, I hope folk tell me good things.

Saints Row IV Is Pretty Fun--A Not-Quite Review

I've been a fan of the "Saints Row" series of games for some time. I have an older post where I ramble on about why the first game's final three missions made the game one of my favorites. I of course also enjoyed the sequel, "Saints Row 2," and "Saints Row: The Third" was great fun, but I hadn't felt that same magic, the same desire to do every single activity or mini-mission in the game since the first "Saints Row". At least, I until this version, number four.

The "Saints Row" series has slowly gotten crazier and crazier, to a point where while in the first game you were a mostly-mute member of a street-gang, now in the fourth game you are the President of the United States and making awesome quips while fighting off a gigantic alien invasion. Oh, and you're in a computer simulation of the city of Steelport from the 3rd game and by messing with the system you have all sorts of super-powers. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

Just another day in the White House,
at least until the aliens invaded from outer-space

If you've played "Saints Row" since the first game it does still follow a continuity, with references to past events and characters, but this game is also its own beast of majesty. From the opening mission with its "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" feel, to jumping and gliding around the city, everything about the game from its writing to the act of playing is a great time. I've been loving the main missions and side-missions, along with all the little mini-games and activities that involve using my super-powers in creative ways or fighting off various aliens serving as the security program/law enforcement for the virtual system.

The internet seems to love the game too, from my friends over at Caffeineforge to Joystiq with their 5-star review. Plus it has been pointed out the game is actually pretty big on sexual and gender equality. Your character can be a man, a woman, a man with a woman's voice, or a woman with a man's voice, and your crew treats them the same no matter what. In an homage/parody of the "Mass Effect" series you also can romance your fellow Saints, be they male or female, so that's quite cool.

Super-speed, one of many great powers.

I haven't even beaten the main story in "Saints Row IV" so I don't think it would be appropriate to review it, but even at this slightly early state of my playing I can say this is one dynamite game. I know Grand Theft Auto 5 comes out tomorrow, and you can bet I'll be playing that too, so I suppose I'm going to be needing to do some juggling of games. That way I'll ensure I squeeze all the fun out of each title that I can--you know, when I'm not at work or writing this website for you fine readers, of course.

In closing, "Saints Row IV,"  is something you will most likely enjoy, try it!

Let's Talk Some More About DC's 3-D Covers, and Novelty Covers in General.

We've gone through two weeks of DC's 3-D cover madness and I've seen different shops respond to it in a variety of ways. From stores I have checked out I've seen some places taking the covers and marking them up immensely and others just selling the 3-D-adorned comics for cover price, i.e. $3.99 if you want 3-D and $2.99 if you want the covers without it. I've written about what seemed good, bad, and ugly in regards to Villain's Month/Forever Evil and how horrendous all this allocation business is. What do I think of the 3-D covers themselves now that I've seen them though? One word, "Eh".

I've been told everything about how the covers looked from that the 3-D wasn't all that impressive to it was amazing (well, maybe I heard one random guy say he thought it was cool, "amazing" is over-stating it). I've seen them in person now and...they are neat, I guess? If I look at the covers just right AKA head-on, and move the comic around a little bit then I definitely see some wiggling-around of the image as if it were popping-out at me.

 It's not a failure as a special-effect, but is it a gimmick that is worth one whole extra dollar? I honestly can't answer that, because I don't know if in the future those copies of "Batman and Robin #23.1/Two-Face #1" that are 3-D will actually be worth the many extra dollars one shop I went by was charging, or if they'll be sitting in the dollar bin with the 3-D material on the cover worth more than the comic itself.

This all leads to the question of if this Villain's Month 3-D cover business is going to be a success or more of a fiasco. From the little data that's in via word-of-mouth from retailers or other random folk, so far things have been going pretty well, with fans perhaps more interested in the event than the silly covers, but plenty of "speculators" are going to stores too and snatching-up all the 3-D covers they can, so who knows how inflated sales are due to speculation.

 I myself hope that Villain's Month goes well, but not too well. I say this because if Villain's Month is a smashing success we may see DC and other companies fiddling around with other sorts of designs and random gimmicks. Should you think I'm being paranoid I would like to point at a post about how Marvel is bringing back the acetate cover for the upcoming "Origin II" comic. I suppose a mini-series that continues telling Wolverine's back-story deserves something snazzy, but I thought all that business of covers with the raised-up-off-the-page images had passed.

As I talked about in my first-ever "Tales from the Dollar Bin" post about the old "X-Force" comic, poly-bagging has been making a return, so between that, variant covers, and now these other gimmicks it is as if the 1990's are here again. You know, the part in history right before that huge crash that occurred in the comic-book market. Clearly I don't want that to happen again because it would be tragic, but I wonder if yet again the comic-book industry is making its way toward such a thing.

As it is, I don't really mind novelty covers, as long as they aren't made artificially rare with a sort of manufactured "scarcity" that makes it harder for me to read the comics I like. Plus, suddenly if they are more expensive due to all the bells and whistles, that is a major pain too. I don't know what is going to happen with novelty and variant covers, but sooner than later something's gotta give. I just wonder what exactly it is that will be "giving", be it the market due to an over-saturation of gimmick covers, fans giving up on all the novelty-covers, or something else. We shall see.

My Life and the Amazing Comic "X-Factor".

Numerous times on this blog I've talked about the just-ended "X-Factor" which spent a number of years in circulation, getting up to issue #50 before reverting to "Legacy"-styled numbering as #200 and ran up until ending last week at issue #262. Oh, and there was an excellent mini-series titled, "Madrox" that led into the said character forming his detective agency, of course named X-Factor.

Peter David wrote this series the entire time, through Marvel's countless editorial events that would sometimes wrest characters from his control (such as when Rahne left the book for a bit to be in an "X-Force" comic), or even when suffering a stroke that happened toward the end of the comic's run--and which in the final issue he insists has nothing to do with the book ending as there were already plans for this title to conclude. I've loved "X-Factor" so very much, because it has been with me for many years of my life that were full of various experiences, but in which "X-Factor" remained a constant. If I may be a bit self-indulgent I will illustrate why this book has meant so much to me...

The first issue of this X-Factor series I ever read was issue #6. Shown here:

 I remember quite clearly how I stumbled across it, as this book quickly became my favorite. It was sitting on an ill-kept comics' spinner-rack at a Borders in the mall at Ithaca, NY. That's right, this goes all the way back to when Borders had not yet become defunct. Anyways, I was in high school still and didn't frequent any comic shops so much as occasionally pick up a trade at bookstores or a single issue of comics that looked neat. I remembered Layla Miller being in the "House of M" trade I had just read and wondered what had happened to her, so when I saw the weird cover to issue #6 with a person who looked like Layla and a strange wolf-monster I eagerly picked the book up.

I immediately fell in love with Madrox, Rahne (whom I learned was the wolf-monster) Guido, Monet, and everyone else. I started picking up the comic anytime I saw the new issue on newsstands, and when I went away to college I finally got around to  ordering the "Madrox" mini-series on Amazon and had it delivered to my tiny college mailbox where it was roughly forced into mail-crevice yet remarkably was unharmed thanks to good packaging.

I kept reading the series and adoring it, from all the twists and turns to the amazing characterization, I kept following the book as I graduated college, did AmeriCorps, moved out to Saint Louis, and saw the characters grow and develop just as I did. Madrox and Layla got married (she became much older when she traveled through time so it wasn't that weird), Guido went from a lovable lunk to the lord of Hell, Rictor came out as gay and reunited with his love, Shatterstar. Quicksilver went in and out of the book between his various adventures in other titles and each time he appeared was a bit more stable and well-adjusted, and the fascinatingly evil Tryp was there at the start of the series and fittingly appeared in the very last issue too. As I went from high school, to college, to AmeriCorps, to working towards my Master's Degree, and graduating with it shortly ago, I always could enjoy the comic, "X-Factor" as my life kept changing--sometimes for worse, but much often for better.

The last issue of "X-Factor", or this version of it, at least.

Now we are at a point where "X-Factor" has sadly come to a close, but clearly isn't truly done with something else in the making that will most likely answer a variety of the remaining questions this series left. I've gone from a single high-school student to a holder of a Master's Degree and living with the love of my life (plus two adorable cats), and as corny as it sounds, "X-Factor" was always there for me, through the good and the bad. Sometimes folk will ask why I read comics, generally not in a mean way, but out of curiosity as with the booming business of comic-book (and specifically super-hero) movies there is more interest in the form. The best answer I can usually give is that through the long-form storytelling I'm able to have those characters there with me, remaining a constant yet also evolving as my life changes too. Sort of the same reason some people like a particular series of books, or certain television shows. It is comforting to have that piece of entertainment there growing and changing with you, yet as I said, being a constant in that it is always there.

"X-Factor" and the "Madrox" mini-series that led into it were amazing books, and I'll miss this version of the series immensely. I am thankful for the all the time that this version of "X-Factor" did exist, and was able to be with me, growing and changing in new and interesting ways, just as I suppose I did. As I enter the next stage of my life, working and such, it'll be interesting to see "X-Factor" do the same. I look forward to it--both my changes and those of "X-Factor"!

Tales From The Dollar Bin: Tribe #1

There are comics which are worth incredible sums of money, but so many of the most interesting, tragic, or just downright weird can be found for a simple dollar or less in a  store's "dollar bin". There, comics that never gained much popularity can be found alongside those that sold so much as for a copy to be worthless. "Tales From the Dollar Bin" aims to explore these comics, be they a single issue or an entire run of a series. From the great to the miserable, some of the best treasures and worst nightmares can be found in those infamous boxes. Let's have a "tale" now...

The Success and Failure of "Tribe"

"Tribe" was a comic series best described as "short-lived". Its first issue came out via Image comics in 1993, and then eventually a 2nd, 3rd, and "Zero" issue were released under two different publishers over the years (Axis comics and Good comics). The first issue also happened to sell over a million copies and is argued by some to be the best-selling comic with a black creative team (writer Todd Johnson and artist Larry Stroman) ever made. Plus, that the majority of the characters are people of color is worth noting also. Considering how that first issue did so well this raises the question of why only one issue ever came out from Image, and the rest sort of trickled out slowly via other publishers.

After some digging about I found an old forum discussion on CBR about the very subject of just why "Tribe" was cancelled. From the mouth of one of Image's founders, Erik Larsen, we are told basically it was because the thing was delayed beyond all high-heaven. Even the first issue was "months late," and,  "issue two was nowhere in sight." "Tribe" wasn't being picked on, it was cut with some other Image titles such as "Stupid" and "Trencher", which are two books I've never heard of and have no idea about the contents of, but will guess can probably be found in a dollar bin somewhere too. Clearly Image had no ill will toward the comic, they just were discouraged about how the darn thing seemed to be being made so slowly.

The story is basically about a group of powered individuals who come together to fight a corporation made up of European and Japanese interests, or "Europan". As this was just a first issue we don't get too much plot, instead having various story-connected segments occur that introduce us to some of the characters in the series. It is perfectly fine stuff, if not extraordinary story-telling. The art is worth talking about for sure though, be it because you love it or hate it--the primary two responses to the illustrator, Larry Stroman.

Stoman's artwork is an acquired taste for many, but I enjoyed seeing his work for the first time when reading the sadly-just-ended "X-Factor" (fun fact, he worked on an older version of "X-Factor" with the same writer, Peter David, too!) and viewing it here in "Tribe" was neat too. He draws with a slightly exaggerated style that can make his characters look that extra bit grotesque and almost caricature-like, and in an era where sometimes we get a "house style" from publishers, seeing Stroman's shocking out-there page designs and illustrations is cool.

As this comic sold so many copies it isn't a surprise that you can find it in the dollar bin without too much trouble, but it is a surprise how even today so few comics have minority individuals in a lead role, especially considering we are now 20 years after the original release of this comic and it is still rare enough to have a series where minority characters are at the forefront of your comic that it is a major deal when such a thing occurs. The way this series basically died is also an example of something that seems to happen far too often with comics, namely they get really, really delayed. True, not every series has a multi-year gap between issues such as "Ultimate Wolverine VS Hulk", but plenty of series seem to either come out later than intended, or have fill-in art of a questionable quality to get a comic out on time.

In closing, when I think of the comic "Tribe" I consider how even today we still have very little representation of people of color in comics (whether as characters or within the comic-creator community), and I think of how delays can kill any momentum a series has, even if it is the kind of momentum other comics would kill for--what publisher wouldn't give an arm and a leg to sell over one million copies of a comic these days? "Tribe" is a comic with decent writing and divisive art, but it also is both an encouraging artifact in its illustration of how comics about non-white characters can sell, and a warning symbol about the danger of delays. "Tribe" was both an enormous success and a huge failure, depending on which aspects of its history you choose to look at, but in the end there is no question it makes for an intriguing....tale from the dollar bin!

I Find This Funny For I Am A Nerd

There was a surrealist painting of a pipe declaring that it was not a pipe, because it wasn't, it was a painting of a pipe. This is a fun take on that, and for some reason I find that hilarious. It's a postcard from the McSweeney's collection of Postcards.

Blaming Video-Games AKA "Think of the Children!"

This past week an extremely tragic story appeared in the news. In the town of Slaughter, Louisiana an eight-year-old child was able to get his hands on a loaded gun in his grandmother's home and allegedly intentionally shot her in the head. Clearly, everyone should be up in arms asking how in the Hell a child was able to get his hands on a loaded gun, and the media is having a fit...but about video-games. Wait, what?

Apparently the child had been playing "Grand Theft Auto IV" for awhile before shooting his grandmother, so of course instead of seeing headlines exclaiming how tragic it is that a child was able to get their hands on, I repeat, a loaded weapon, we see the news exclaiming how he did this horrendous act after playing some video-games. To put in perspective how stupid that is, imagine a headline saying, "Child shoots grandmother after reading violent book," except it wasn't a book, it was a game, so here we are.

Thankfully there are level-headed people out there who don't claim that a violent video-game is somehow practice for murder anymore than watching a violent movie is a way to prepare for killing. People are blaming video-games ,as they often seem eager to do, because yet again we have a newer form of media that everyone wants to go off and say is the root of all evil. In the early 1900's it was ragtime music making our youth cause a ruckus, then comic books were causing children to becoming murdering communists, after that television was destroying society as we knew it, followed by "Dungeons and Dragons", and on, and on, and on.

A video-game did not kill this child's grandmother, a gun that he was somehow able to get his hands on did. Comic books did not cause youth to kill people either, and if someone were to say that today they would be laughed at, yet back then that made "perfect sense" to people, and now saying electronic entertainment is the cause of our violence is the popular thing to do.

It doesn't take a genius to know that this is another opportunity for politicians and the media to play to the fears of older viewers who don't understand video-games so as to muddy the real issue--which is how in the Hell did a child get a gun in his hands, and why did he use it to kill someone? Without question soon people will be blaming the parents who may not be at fault at all as the child could very well be disturbed, or other people will be saying guns need to banned while the NRA will claim we actually need more guns, with everyone putting in their two-cents about what is "really" to blame. It's simple though, a child was able to take hold of a loaded weapon and kill someone. Whether that means we need to educate people about how to safely store guns away from children, look into what caused this child to think murder was okay, or some other solution I feel something should be done--but I don't think blaming a video-game is the answer anymore than saying it was ragtime music that caused this tragedy.

I Dropped a Lot of Comics Part Four: What It Means

We Reach the End
You've either slogged through all three of my posts about the comics I kept and quit, or you've skipped those articles to read what exactly my point is. You've (possibly) been patient so I'll tell you why I spent all this time breaking down the comics I wanted to keep getting and the ones I wanted to cut. It's because it illustrates exactly what is right and what is wrong with comics today.

I cut comics that were okay reads but generic, I got rid of ones that were dull slogs, and I stopped buying the ones I was getting not because I liked them at all, but out of some sort of commitment to a character or creator. I couldn't stand the idea of all these cross-overs so I just gave up on almost every X-Men comic due to "Battle of the Atom", and am hesitant about "Infinity" and "Forever Evil" but am at least interested enough in their premises I will give them a try. I'm the comic reader Marvel and DC don't want, someone who has loved their stuff, but is getting bored with a lot of it.

The Marvel and DC comics I kept without hesitation are the ones that are doing something interesting, be it with creative stories ("X-Men: Legacy") or making a character people once mocked kind of neat ("Aquaman"). Image and the less-big publishers that are putting out the more experimental stuff found much less of their comics cut, because I want comics that tell unique tales, not just dull comics of the same ol' super-heroes fighting some bad guy when they aren't fighting within each other.

I like the comics that push boundaries, such as some of Avatar's stuff that can be a bit extreme, but also can make for some damn good stories. I enjoy super-heroes, but if I'm reading a super-hero comic I want it to have a unique spin like Joe Casey's current works do (or again, "X-Men: Legacy", the book is truly awesome), or an intriguing hook as "Forever Evil" does with its, "Villains take over," concept that is by no means new, but should make for at least some good comics (putting aside the whole 3-D cover mess). You can even do a hero story that makes a commentary on today's comics versus the past's just as the excellent "The Standard" does. Just make sure you create something that isn't the same old song and dance.

I want my hero comics to have interesting "spins" as I said, but I also want my comics in general to have that, of course. "Saga" is an epic space-tale that at its heart is a simple and sweet love story. "The Westwood Witches" is an intriguing and dark horror yarn. "Lazarus" is a futuristic sci-fi story that seems scarily possible. These are all comics that do something different, and succeed at it wonderfully.

I can't do the boring generic super-hero comics anymore. I don't have the money and I lack the patience for it also. Should comic companies not stray from the formula of never-ending events that "compliment" boring tales of capes and capers they may find more people leaving their brand behind for other, more intriguing things. After all, I plan on doing more rounds of cutting and if Marvel and DC aren't careful they may find themselves almost completely missing from my pull-list, and many other folks' lists too.

For those who want to read the earlier posts:
Part One: Marvel
Part Two: DC and Image
Part Three: Other Publishers