Mic Check, One Two, One Two

Podcasts, Eel Mansions and Storm Dogs

I got to 'live the dream' (sort of) these past two weeks by guest-hosting on two of my favorite comic book podcasts: The Two Headed Nerd Comicast and Panel Culture. As much as I would like to host my own podcast or fill-in on a semi-regular basis … it's a lot of damn work.

 

In my experience, a successful broadcaster (especially in radio) needs two things: the skill to never run out of things to say and a sense of amity. Silence is the killer and so too is insincerity. If you can't fill the space or if you show any sense of phoniness, you're dead. Neither of these 'casts have to worry about such puny problems. So, my thanks go to Joe and Matt and Charles, Owen and George for the opportunity for this ink-stained scribbler to be both 'internet famous' and 'BIG in Canada' in the span of about seven days.

As if podcasting isn't enough of a collaborative act, I also spent time last week in an attempt to one-up Daniel Elkin and Justin Giampaoli on an essay about Eel Mansions by Derek Van Gieson. I've tried to avoid small press publications if only because I know if I give in I won't be able to stop myself. Small press comics may be more hit-and-miss, however, when they hit, watch out. At (only) thirty-eight pages, Eel Mansions is a monster. We wrote almost five thousand words about this black and white beauty of non sequiturs, in-jokes and out-and-out weirdness and there is still more we could have talked about. Eel Mansions is a giver and for $7 shipped it's a steal.

 
Last, but not least, my bi-monthly contribution to 'Shotgun Blurbs'-- Justin's column on Thirteen Minutes dedicated to creator-owned work -- went up this week. I wrote about Storm Dogs from Image Comics by creators David Hine, Doug Braithwaite, and Ulises Arreola. David Hine is a thinker. (re)Reading Storm Dogs gave me insights into how far Hine has gone to think about the setting and characters he and Braithwaite have created. He backdoors the world-building in the same ways Lucas did with 'Star Wars' with offhand mentions to past events which only further the reader's imagination.
 

Hit the hyperlinks for more: Storm Dogs, Eel Mansions, Two-Headed Nerd, Panel Culture.

And do yourself a kindness, huh? Go to Uncivilized Books and buy a couple of copies of Eel Mansions.

Mass Communicatin'

To my own perception and regret, the Internet has been lousy with my work this week, what we cliche-hounds call 'a perfect storm.' I don't post 'em I only write 'em, so there. I deem this 'internet-famous' like barrage, 'Sacks-ing' after the benevolent overlord of Comics Bulletin, Jason Sacks, as in "I had four posts go live on Comics Bulletin this week! I am so Sacksing right now!" Trust me, it's a thing.

 

Sacksing can't happen without the great editors I work with at Comics Bulletin, Danny Dejeljosevic and David Fairbanks. Without them I'm one hand-clapping. Thanks men!

 

Here's a quick rundown of the week and remember if you haven't seen it or read it (Reddit?) it's new to you:

 

Jamil Scalese and I form a new team on Comics Bulletin with a look at FF #1. NOW! Jamil and I agree on most of what Mike Allred and Matt Fraction have to offer here. What struck me most (and I think Jamil agrees) is this -- for Jamil it's better, for me, worse -- is another #1 that over-promises and under-delivers. It might be a great series once it gets going, but this issue, for me at least, never gets out of first gear.

 

Daniel Elkin also helped me keep pace with a visit to the Supermarket, Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson's 2006 mini-series. It's good clean fun with an 'eep' or two and some cartoon violence thrown in to keep it spicey. Elkin took me to task (rightfully so) for not taking Supermarket at face value. It's dismissive to call anything 'minor' in an artist's oeuvre, so let's call this a welcome departure from Wood's heavier work and, oh yeah, I want more of this Donaldson.

 

Next, I weighed in over at the Two-Headed Nerd with an essay on why I write about comics. A lot of it is all 'sweetness and light;' however, more than a love letter to my own ego, I tried to make it a call to arms to get more people writing and talking about the comics they love and why they love them (and if those comics happen to be creator-owned, all the better). I also added my voice (and my arms) to new column that THN calls Slave Revolt. Tony Doug Wright of Champion City Comics led the charge while Aaron Meyers and I took to the battlements beside him.

 

The biggest bombshell to drop was a piece I wrote with David Fairbanks: 'Why I Want to Pour Gasoline on Corporate Comics.' This is really a companion piece to the one that ran on THN except it's more acidic. It's a conversation-starter that I hope gets more people 'thinking' about 'why' they buy the comics they buy and not only 'what' they buy.

 

The piece I'm most proud of is something I hinted at a month or so ago: Old Mutants, New Ideas: Bill Sienkiewicz's New Mutants. I'm writing about Sienkiewicz's complete thirteen issue run and trying to capture what Sienkiewicz means to me and what it was like to be twelve-years-old and in love with comic books, words and most of all, art. For me, Bill Sienkiewicz represents the art of the possible. ¶ There is more that I've written that's yet to post (thank Crom!) and (better yet) more to write. I'm going to work to make IiSF? my library at Alexandria -- oh, yes, I know hype and how to be pretentious -- and keep it updated with the 'new' and the 'new to you.' As I said at the end of my essay for THN: go and do likewise, go and do likewise.

Roll-Call

This Thing of Ours

In a fit of what I can only imagine as rapturous, card-carrying nerd and internet nice guy, Aaron Meyers tweeted: ''Seriously, how great is the comic's community on twitter? You folks are fantastic.'' It's true. The virtual LCS that everyone else calls the internet (or web) is up to its cyclopean visor in fervent and fast friends who wanna talk some comics. It ain't no pajama party, nobody's braiding nobody's hair, there is, however, a lot of talk about boys, but, sadly, there are no pillow fights. It's competitive, so you better come correct. The comic-book-store-guy snark that the 'straights' think comic books culture is about, look for it somewhere else, bub.

Your humble narrator hasn't been idle even though IiSF? has (I admit) been a bit sparse as of late. I've been working on my EGOT or whatever the comic book blogger equivalent is. I'm still slaving away for the best publisher and co-conspirator a guy could ask for, Comics Bulletin's grand poobah, Jason Sacks. Along with the Jerry to my Joe, Daniel Elkin, there are more reviews waiting in the wings, one of which contains this nugget of Elkin erudition: ''It's that intense desire that you are overwhelmed with at the sight of a person or an object – the one upon which you have that deep animal longing to rub your genitalia;'' and this from Sacks: ''an insanely appropriate and insanely wonderful Japanese WMD that looks to the past and to the future ...'' Yeah, these guys are the balls.

 

If you haven't read the interview I did for CB with Rachel Deering, by all means go, do. Deering is as smart and candid as anyone I've interviewed in seventeen years as a television reporter/photographer. Often the most candid interviewees have axes to grind and so caught up in their own passions that they come off as insulated and aloof. Deering is passionate, no doubt, but down-to-earth and honest. She's got one of the best horror comics going, Anathema, and when she makes the big time, watch out.

 

To spread the Sophisticated Fun around I got asked to write for a new website for one of my favorite comic book podcasts, The Two-Headed Nerd Comicast. I've written about Joe and Matt here before, so when they asked if I'd contribute I jumped at the chance and hoped not be a pimple on the (Two-Headed Nerd) ass of progress. The essay I wrote was about how I've been lukewarm on Saga. Funny story, Saga slurper (I kid because I $3.99 like), Owen K. Craig of Panel Culture very congenially pointed out that I had spelled Saga scribe Brian K. Vaughan's surname as Vaughn. Craig could have dinged me for such an obvious and egregious mistake. Instead, he complemented me on my opinion, valiantly defended his boy Vaughan, and mentioned in a demure direct message on Twitter that I had misspelled his master's name. That's how you come correct without coming off like a prick. Be 'the Owen.'

 

These roll call posts wouldn't be complete without a mention of my blog-father, Justin Giampaoli of the incomparable Thirteen Minutes. I wrote a review of Mind MGMT, for what Justin has (now) christened a recurring feature called 'shotgun blurbs' about creator-owned comics. In his 'no-nonsense, icy Walter-White-like efficiency, Giampaoli wanted to know, in 300 words or less: what the comic is about and why should someone buy it. My latest 'blast,' so-to-speak, is aimed at Prophet. How Brandon Graham has transformed this 90's cement-head into a sort of 'sophisticated fun' shall we say (?) WTF kind of story is a prime example of what can happen when creators are left to do what they do best, create.

 

It's been one year (August 31, 2011 to be exact) since I received that fateful spam from the bean-counters at Warner Brothers. One year removed from buying every New 52 title I could get my hands on (Red Lanterns? Suicide Squad? What was I thinking?!?). One year after agreeing to 'read a couple of comic books' with my 'old friend,' Seth, who must accept some of the blame for the 'pleasure of my compnay' that I inflict on you all. Now, I blog, tweet and email back-in-forth with all these smart and passionate writers, artists and creators. Excelsior! Meyers said it, ''You folks are fantastic.'' (Included a little Kracklin' Kirby Romance for all the lovin' goin' 'roun.' Enjoy!)

 

Aforementioned Links:

 
(re)AssessingSaga at Two-Headed Nerd, Interview with Anathema creator Rachel Deering and a review of Anathema #2 on Comics Bulletin, Thirteen Minutes Shotgun Blub: Prophet

Review: The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred

Total B.S.

  A big part of comic book culture is B.S. My weekly fix from my local comic's pusher is made all the more worthwhile because we talk about what we read last week, what we're reading this week, what we can't wait for next week and so on. What my mother would call, 'solving the world's problems.'

  Now, I love my LCS. It's small, shaped like a shoebox and there's duct tape holding the check-out counter together, but it is mine, sir. When I see pictures of comic book cathedrals like Bergen Street Comics, or hear the guys on Panel Culture talk about hanging out at Paradise Comics in Toronto, I get a little jealous. I can only imagine what Legend Comics in Omaha, Nebraska must be like. How it must feel to hang out and bull-shit with Joe Patrick as he waxes philosophical about Mark Waid; while nearby Matt Baum braises a cider-infused, grass-fed, 100% pasture-raised pork shoulder and caramelizes onions while simultaneously putting a steel-toed boot into the gut of some whiner who thinks there should even BE a Red She-Hulk. I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time. Perchance to dream.

  So, I have my LCS with its well-curated, but smallish selection, so what. On the other hand, I have the power of the internet. I have my old friend Seth whose blog posts and emails make me want to keep writing and to continue to think about comics. I have the accredited professional comic book blogger, Justin Giampaoli who is always sixty-six steps ahead of me and who posts a score of reviews for every one of mine. I'm a better person for following people like @aaronmeyers, @martgray, @colin_TBTAMC, the whole Panel Culture crew and the writers of SEQART. Not to be forgotten, the person who told me to start a blog in the first place, the Kickstarter superstar Kelly Thompson.

  Which brings me to my colleagues at Comics Bulletin, Danny Djeljosevic, Jason Sacks and, of course, Daniel Elkin. When Elkin invited me to write about Wood and Kelly's Local with him, it turned into the best B.S. session I’ve had in a long time. I am forever in his debt and come hell or high water, we'll get to B.S. face-to-face, over a bottle, couple of glasses and some ice. They have ice in hell, right? I've teamed up with Elkin again to bring forth this: The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred. BC:D doesn't get enough praise (I'm looking at you Two-Headed Nerd!). It's a tough comic book to recommend to someone  because … well, where do you begin and how do you describe it and not sound cracked? As you’ll read, I go right 'round the bend by the end. What can I say? Hine and Kane make me want to create and maybe by the end, you'll will too.

http://comicsbulletin.com/reviews/4681/miniseries-review-the-bulletproof-coffin-disinterred/