Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 03172013:
"Curation just isn't in our DNA. How are the kids gonna learn, man? You can't shut em out." -Whoever pilots the SPX twitter account.
(The best magazine cover ever stolen from Plaid Stallions.)
"Curation just isn't in our DNA. How are the kids gonna learn, man? You can't shut em out." -Whoever pilots the SPX twitter account.
- Happy belated Birthday to my daughter Kassidy Smith. She turned 11 last Sunday which was why I was too busy to ever post last week's Parade-O-Links. She did the drawing above. Yesterday (actually last Saturday when I started putting this post together) she worked on painting a huge Adventure Time tree house she built and she created a custom case for her iPod touch using multicolored duct tape. Yes, multicolored duct tape is a thing that exists.
- So, who wants some free comics? Apparently everyone! So, Marvel and Comixology got together to try and give way over 700 free digital comics to anyone that was paying attention. I'm a big advocate for Comixology. At least since my daughter got the Comixology app on her iPod touch. So I think it was a great move for both Comixology and Marvel. Of course it was going to crash. I got in for a few minutes and you could add about 25 comics to your cart at the same time. I'm sure there were people trying to checkout with hundreds of items in their cart at once. Crash is the only way that ends. The great and powerful Jog talked about the whole deal here and wrote about some other digital offerings. I've checked out Panel Nine a few times but never pulled the trigger on any of it. I'm cheap and busy. I mainly buy and/or redeem digital comics that I can share with my daughter. I don't think the Panel Nine stuff falls in that category. Maybe one day when I grow up and get my own cell pad pod phone I might give it a spin.
- And speaking of Comixology- this Submit self publishing deal through their site could be a big deal. I've already added Too Much Coffee Man and Nathan Sorry to "My Comics". I'm excited about it. Lots of potential there for the self publisher. I don't know if it's going to create any self publishing break out starts but you gotta be in the game to win and this is a nice start.
- And speaking of digital digitalings- Codes man codes. Bluray codes, comics, codes... I live for the codes! Seriously. If you don't want your codes, don't sell them, email them to me! To pull up my comics and movies on whatever device is closest to me is great for me. My life is a train wreck but it is awesome to be able to watch and read wherever my post crash cadaver lands.
- But ya know, paper is still pretty great too. Oh if only there were a way to read paper comic books for free.
- I'd like to take a moment to beg you to do things. Do you like file under other? Do you like the Other Comics News Parade-O-Links? I sure do. And I'd like to keep them going. But dang, the way my life is right now, I probably have less than four hours a week not consumed by my job and parenting duties. (And I'm gonna spend one of those watching Justified.) So, it would mean a lot to me to feel like there was a point in spending that time writing about other people's comic books. Especially when the only thing in life that holds any real interest for me other than my kids is the dream of making my own comics. So, hey, um maybe share this website on twitter, or the facebook, or G+, or the tumblr, or the reddit or maybe even the next time you come in contact with one of the flesh humans you might use your talking parts to share the news. I know it sounds pathetic and desperate to ask you to do this but, trust me, I don't know anything about "driving traffic" or "building an audience" or any of that crap. Maybe you do. Maybe you can help.
(The best magazine cover ever stolen from Plaid Stallions.)
- If by some miracle I get this posted on time and if by some miracle you got out of bed and read this on Sunday morning... you might still have a shot at getting a table at SPX. Online registration starts at noon. I suspect all the tables will be gone by, oh say... noon. So, good luck. If it is not yet noon when you are reading this, here is the registration walk through. I believe that this will be the registration link. But don't take my word for it. You should have probably already been following SPX on the twudder. It's a great show and I hope to go. I can't afford the table at the moment. One of the kids needs braces so I guess I'll pay for that instead. But I do hope to make the show so good luck getting a table and make sure to bring some cool stuff for me to look at.
(People. I really love this drawing of Speedball by Daniel Spottswood. This is not a news link or anything. I just really like it.)
- The cast and crew of file under other wish Kim Thompson all the best. We met him at SPX once and he was swell. Plus, he herded all the cats at the Comics Journal message board for years. I appreciated that. Oh, and comics. Comics are good too. We need Kim Thompson. Get better real soon.
- A lot of thoughts were thunked, discussions were discussed and blogs were blogged after the great comics creator Jerry Ordway posted some thoughts on how hard it is to get work in comics at his age. Which is just stupid, because there are probably less than three comics published by DC right now that would not be instantly 200% better if Ordway were either the artist or the writer on the book. The Challengers of the Unknown comics Ordway did last year were, in my opinion, the best looking comics the New 52 has produced so far. With the exception of Capullo's Batman, I think they may be the only comics in the new 52 where the characters have had the same faces in panel five as they did in panel 3 on any given page.
- Mark Evanier also had some thoughts on the issue.
- And Tom Bondurant said some smart things.
- And Gerry Conway, he thinks things too.
- Look, there were a ton of links to the Ordway thing. I'm late on this but let me just say Ordway is great and literally, no crap, I have and I will buy whatever you the comics publisher people of the world hire him to draw. Love his stuff. I'm not going to hunt the link but some editor said something to the effect that they could not imagine Ordway drawing all those lines on Superman's current
garbage sackcostume. There is so much about that statement that is infuriating to me. For one, if the job is to draw stupid lines on a costume then Jerry Ordway will draw the lines and make them look great because the man is going to deliver. Secondly, that's your freaking problem for giving Superman a crap Jim Lee costume. Thirdly, that's just your lack of imagination and CAPITOL F YOU IDIOT you are mentally disabled. If you can't imagine a guy that has delivered at the highest level for 30 years delivering one more time then what the FFFF is wrong with your thinking box and how the FFFF are you in your job? So your customers are going to lose out on great work because of your lack of imagination? - F!
- Tumblr is the enemy and must be destroyed at all costs. (But in the meantime, please follow my tumblr.)
- Kickstarter will save us all. (Except that it probably won't.)
- Those Bill Sienkiewcz New Mutant comics were amazing looking. I had not idea what to make of them when I was a kid but I've been trying to get as many of them as I can find when I dig through the dollar boxes at shops and cons.
- Here is a great story about a 60s commercial artist getting hired to do 60s commercial art in the year 2013.
- Hey. If you ever get to make a movie about a huge group of characters, all of which were created by one man... please, please, remember to invite that guy to the premier of the movie.
- Just above these words is a convention sketch I did of Jimmy "The Boogie Woogie Man" Valiant riding a shark in outer space. I always wonder what happens with those con sketches. Well, this one inspired a story in an ongoing webcomic.
- That Superman lawsuit that was totally over? Maybe it's not over.
- So, like Commissioner Gordon is going to have a cell phone? Alfred rants about Downton Abbey?
- I'm typing this while listening to this.
- Hey, it's Crogan Adventures comics you can read with your ears!
- Check out this super great poster Jost Latta done arted up. You can buy one or twelve. Josh as been knocking out some very impressive Avatards lately as well. You should check 'em out.
- This is a bit old now but that Gary Groth interview Tom Spurgeon did was very good.
- CGR talked to Ann Nocenti and Louise Simonson because it was women's day or month or something. I like comics by both of those ladies a whole lot. Women? I guess they are pretty okay.
- Jamie Hernandez talked to Hazlitt.
- This George Lucas art museum thing looks like it could be spectacular. Ziah Grace at Comics Alliance wrote about it here. From what I've heard about Lucas's comics collection, if he put just part of that in there it would be maybe the best comics museum in the US. Maybe? I hope it happens.
- New comics from Gabby Schulz boys and girls! Here he returns to the credit union. And here are some comics about the boys in blue. That Schulz, he sure loves the police. Oh no terrorism indeed.
- This Kickstarter for some Steve Ditko comics already met its goal but you can still get in on some good stuff.
- March MODOK madness!
- I'm pretty sure everything in my brains already came from comic books.
- That Michael Deforge cover is neat-o mosquito.
- There is still a little time to get in on Retrofit Comics subscription deal. If I had any money at all I would. Maybe I'll see some blood this week.
- I'm very angry about the cancellation of Green Lantern and Young Justice. I have a lot of cartoon based anger these days. Why does a TV show have to sell toys? See, that's not how TV works- You make good TV that people like then you make your money by selling advertisements. Gumball toys sold = zero. Level Up toys sold = zero. Incredible Crew toys sold = zero. Total Drama Island toys sold = zero. Johnny Test toys sold = zero. And, now is as good as time to point out that Annoying Orange is the worst thing that has ever happened.
- I've got a lot of Star Wars based cartoon anger too.
- Look I've got two kids. I watch a lot of Disney television. Let me make this perfectly clear to you. This is an indisputable fact. Disney hates cartoons. Don't expect Disney to give you MORE Marvel or Star Wars on TV. Before being bought by Disney, Marvel had 5 cartoons on the air or in the works. Right now they have one with two more on the way. Before being bought by Disney, there was one, very, very, very good Star Wars cartoon on TV with another on the way. Now there are zero. People, have you seen that Jessie TV show? Disney TV shows are awful! What did you expect?
- I'm also angry about Google Reader going away. At least 70% of this post came from my Google Reader feed. If RSS really does die then I guess I'll have to start blogging about facebook advertisements.
- Not even going to talk about Sullivan's Sluggers.
(Maybe the coolest Spider-Man I've ever seen. And I've looked at Spider-Man every day for over three decades. Drawn by Rafael Grampá. Stolen from Dean Trippe.)
- Them Star Wars movies were a-okay.
- Back when the kid writing the comics was younger than the heroes' sidekicks.
- My God it's full of Kirby.
- Astro City is making a return. That is a series I never got into while it was actually happening but later read a bunch of the trade paperbacks thanks to the local library. Good stuff.
- Hopefully never.
- This Vertigo timeline was very surprising for me. During the time when The Sandman was a phenomenon it seemed like the run lasted forever. Or at least a decade. But I guess it was only really three years.
- Ya know. The more I think about it, Jack Kirby might be the only person in the past 70 years of US comics that never read a single word Stan Lee wrote.
- POW... SUPERHERO FAN!
- Shut up and stop everything. Sal Buscema drew new ROM.
- Men, if you’re feeling a bit queasy at the idea of so many beloved characters suffering rape – if you’re feeling creeped out by someone enthusiastically arguing in favour of them being raped because it’s too bad if it upsets you, it’s realistic… Well, hi. Welcome to the world of women.
- And finally... Vatican the Gathering? Vatican 360?
Oh, and one more last thing! Did you know you can leave comments on these posts here at file under other? It's true! And, I'll probably respond. Twitter and facebook killed the message boards but that's no reason why you can't argue with me, praise me or leave me recipes. It's your intronet. Have fun!
And that's just a taste of some of the interesting things going out there in the wonderful world of comics and things. I can't keep up with it all but I do keep up with a lot of it on twitter and I try to re-tweet the good stuff. You should probably follow me there. If you did something to make comics better this week then high-five!
Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
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