Revisiting “Classic” Comics
I started reading comics in 1980 when I spotted a G.I. Joe comic at my local Mac’s Milk store, having already enjoyed the new cartoon at my altogether tender age of eight. It didn’t take long for me to make…
Comic Book Daily
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Comic Book Daily
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Category Jiminy Christmas!
Read MoreRevisiting “Classic” Comics
My Little Pony Hits 90,000 Preorders
The big news to me this week was that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Issue 1 has hit 90,100 advance orders through Diamond; I was also amused that Rich Johnston has access to Diamond preorder numbers but that’s not…
Collecting Crossover
Experienced or hardened comic readers and collectors see the word crossover and experience a cold shudder or at a minimum a slight frown. We’ve all followed a story arc from one book to the next, only to be disappointed by…
Marvel Digital Codes: Used Or Abused
Marvel has been including a digital code in their monthly books for some time but they’ve also started filtering into select Marvel hardcovers; my most recent volumes was Hulk Season One. There’s a handy ad sticker on the book’s plastic…
Rating & Reviewing Comic Shops: CBD Secret Shopping
Anthony forwarded a link to me today for BlogTO and their Best Comic Shops In Toronto. It’s a nice snapshot of comic shops, listing one to nine, but absolutely no criteria are defined for what put these shops on the…
Montreal Comiccon This Weekend
For those who aren’t keeping up with their Canadian comic convention schedule the Montreal Comiccon is this weekend, September 14-16. For those who attended, or tried to attend, last year expect a lot of changes, all geared to getting you…
Fan Expo | Artist’s Alley
As I do for every comic convention the bulk of my time was spent in Artist’s Alley over the four days of Toronto’s Fan Expo 2012. I collect comic art and so wait in line for hours and hours to…
Fan Expo Starts Tomorrow & I’m Already Exhausted
For comic fans in Southern Ontario Fan Expo is upon us, starting Thursday August 23rd at 2:00 PM for fancy pants pass holders and 4:00 PM for everyone else. This year the guest list of top notch comic creators is…
Reprints As Archives Or Entertainment
It’s been said lately that we’re in a golden age of comic reprints, with a wide variety of classic material available in quality hitherto unknown. While this material is getting the deluxe treatment content has become something of an issue,…
Marvel Dropping Dust Jackets
I was reading Secret Avengers By Rick Remender Volume 1 last week when I noticed it didn’t have a dust jacket: the colourful wraparound cover was printed on the hardcover. I’ve harped about dust jackets before and their complete uselessness…
Why Review A Comic Without Including Interior Pages?
This is an old irritation for me but other than on Comic Book Daily doesn’t seem to be gaining any traction. Why oh why do websites continue to review comics but only include a shot of the cover with no…
The Importance Of Panel Layout
Panel layout is one of those features, or more accurately functions, of a comic that goes completely unnoticed unless it breaks out of the established boundaries. The other function that slips by is lettering but that’s a topic for another…
Watchmen Sales Numbers Without All The Facts
Diamond released their sales numbers last week of the top-selling comics and related merchandise. ICv2 took that data and added real volume numbers, as they do every month; I don’t know why Diamond can’t just do this but they don’t.…
My Home Office & Library
My family moved in April from a large house to a more modest dwelling. At the old place I had a home office and a good sized library; now I had one room to make it all work. This post…
New Approaches To Convention Sketches
As regular readers know I’m a big fan of convention sketches. I try to pick up a few every convention I attend; check out my Comic Art website for a gallery. The tried and true method of attaining conventions is…
“This pretty picture syndrome is not a good thing.”
Last week 20th Century Danny Boy posted a 1975 interview from Graphex fanzine with Jim Steranko. It’s a great read to get a glimpse into Steranko’s purview of comics; this quote nailed it. Drawing well is requirement in being a…
Are there “rational” comic readers?
After reading two great columns this week about reading comics, a great When Worlds Collide and our own Across The Pond, it struck me that those who visit comic sites like ours aren’t “rational” comic readers but comic collectors. Give…
Are comics “steeped in years of arcane mythology”?
A book review by Tim Marchman for the Wall Street Journal that barely mentions the book has attracted a lot of attention from the comic internet, leading with the following. If no cultural barrier prevents a public that clearly loves…
No Credit For Choi On Green Lantern Vol 1
I picked up Green Lantern Vol 1: Sinestro HC last week as I’m a Doug Mahnke fan and wanted to see what the New DC 52 had in store. Looks like a straight continuation of the story, including references to…
Summer Drought
The summer is almost upon us and as such seems to mark a dramatic slowdown in my comic buying. I’m not quite sure why but every summer material I’m interested in dries up and my ordering list gets smaller and…