Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
Discussing the minutiae of comic book collecting.
After I finished writing last month’s column about the legacy of Dave Sim and the caveats of collecting Cerebus # 1, I started thinking about Canadian comic creators who started self-publishing their own comics contemporaneously. Many Canadian creators were getting…
Following a look at the current state of new comic buying and then how we got here, this time let’s look at what the near future brings. It’s been said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over…
When discussing the most “important” characters and comics of the Canadian Silver Age, the works of several creators come to mind. The word “important” has several connotations and I use it here in part because of its ambiguity. What makes…
Last time I lamented the current state of new comic buying. This time I’ll look at how we got to this point, from a high-level perspective. Whole books have been written on this subject so I’ll only be skimming the…
Just in time for Christmas, the King Size Ditko is…Amazing will be released to an eager group of silver age fans. Steve Ditko is mostly known for his work. Best known as the creator/co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. He…
I was speaking with someone the other day about comics. They’ve been a comic reader for a few years and was upset because they couldn’t make it into their local comic shop on Wednesday to get their new comics. I…
One of the most simultaneously infuriating, irritating, exciting and compelling parts of conducting research is when one comes across a mystery that cannot be solved. When it comes to Canadian Silver Age comic book collecting, there is one such mystery…
I just finished the second issue of Amber Blake published by IDW. I became aware of this book quite by accident when I was perusing Dave Karlen Original Art. He is the agent for Butch Guice and being a big…
After 69 years in the comics industry, Joltin’ Joe Sinnott has officially retired…again. He first retired 29 years ago but since that time has been inking the Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip over Alex Saviuk’s pencils. Joe Sinnott is considered by…
It’s hard to believe that another month has passed and that it is already April! Last month, I provided a broad overview of the historical context that led to the creation of Geoff Stirling’s Captain Newfoundland character and argued that…
The Toronto Comic Con was a couple of weeks ago, and as usual, I had a list of items I wanted to pick up to complete some runs or just to pick up for the sake of reading runs I…
I came across a great article on an interesting site called Pop Culture Squad. It was a first-hand account of one of the giants of the comic book hobby, the reclusive Steve Ditko. I am going to take the easy…
When I discussed Fuddle Duddle during last month’s column, I highlighted that the characters Captain Canada and Beaver Boy were the first attempt at creating nationalistic Canadian comic book superheroes since the end of the Golden Age. Despite Captain Canada…
The English idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover” is a metaphorical phrase which means “you shouldn’t prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone”. Thanks Wikipedia. Now you may be thinking that this doesn’t…
IDW has published a new series of oversized Marvel signed and numbered artist collections in hardcover. Don’t ask me what IDW is doing publishing these but since they are now publishing a kid-friendly line for Marvel, maybe we shouldn’t be…
February 16, 1971 will always be remembered in Canada as the date of the “Fuddle Duddle incident.” It was on this day that Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was accused of using unparliamentary language in the House of Commons. Nearly…
Last column I brought to your attention the new publishing house TKO Studios. Of the four offerings that were available I ordered “Sara” by Garth Ennis and Steve Epting, with colours by Elizabeth Breitweiser and “The Fearsome Doctor Fang” by…
Happy belated New Year! Thanks to each of you who read my inaugural column last month. Conversing with so many people who posted comments or who contacted me via email was a welcome distraction from my Ph.D. defence on December…
Well, there is a “New Kid in Town” called TKO Studios. They look to do things a little differently than the usual distribution method. The big name that caught my eye was Steve Epting and Garth Ennis WWII era storyline…
My name is brian Campbell (lowercase “b”) and I am a Ph.D. candidate and part-time lecturer at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology. I am also co-owner of the eBay-oriented business, East…