tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75651650070956301252024-03-13T04:43:56.542-07:00Oh YA! Comics - Young Adult Comics and Graphic NovelsComics and graphic novels you'll love!Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-5975833724484765832011-03-28T22:18:00.000-07:002011-03-28T22:22:59.977-07:00Oh YA! Comics Tumblr AuxiliaryBlogs are hard to keep up with. Tumblr is a little easier to do quick posts on the fly, which is mostly what I have time for these days. So allow me to introduce the <a href="http://ohyacomics.tumblr.com/">Oh YA! Comics Tumblr Auxiliary</a>!<div>
</div><div>Go follow me over there to get your fill of YA comics!</div>Alexa Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06251397021262342205noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-10770267474716527872010-10-22T20:25:00.000-07:002010-10-22T20:25:42.632-07:00Pull up a chair...This week's <a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com/2010/10/book-blogger-hop-october-22-25-2010.html">Book Blogger Hop</a> brings up something I've thought about a lot.<br />
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<b>WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO READ? CURLED UP ON THE SOFA, IN BED, IN THE GARDEN?</b></div>
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As much as I'd like to say something quintessentially bookish, like "on the sofa with a pot of tea" or "in front of a roaring fire" or even "in my neighborhood cafe" but really, I read best on the subway. Especially comics, because I have a decent subway ride to and from my comic shop, so it's a bit of a habit. Granted, I also like reading in one of my neighborhood cafes, as you may have noticed if you follow my Twitter feed, but that's partly because that's where I can get my fancy coffee drinks with various forms of alcohol in them ^_^</div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-75866989422826245522010-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:002010-10-23T17:07:21.280-07:00FRENCH MILK by Lucy Knisley<a href="http://www.amazon.com/French-Milk-Lucy-Knisley/dp/1416575340?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-A4jJsRLMCF3ZuIkEPfpV3bsJoTxNPE3EhYyRW_Mel7P13IzhAvIsUE6duZGt-54M2G492MDgyUVyY_J7OXeQ92s1d0gNXjsEP8lKRdVsFOjS__fN4_nqCkAzzeFMubgMLNLbzFiAv4p/s200/frenchmilkcoverxmas2008_thumb.jpg" width="132" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1416575340" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />As she stands on the brink of college graduation, cartoonist Lucy Knisley and her mother decide to rent an apartment in Paris for six weeks. There, she indulges her inner foodie, immerses herself in the arts and history of Paris, and forms a deep addiction to creamy French milk.<br />
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A true account, written and drawn during her time in Paris, Lucy's travel journal draws you into her world. Her cute drawing style invites the reader to indulge in the escape and repose of a Parisian vacation through her dreamlike eyes. She eschews traditional comics panel layouts, instead letting her words and art float around on each page, showing that the story she's telling is not a sequence of events, but a collection of impressions. <br />
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Instead of trying to forge a sweeping narrative of personal growth, she gives an honest view of her experiences from glimpses of both memorable and quotidian moments. And inevitably, many of these turn out to be one in the same. I was struck, when she dropped a reference to the execution of Saddam Hussein, how much the real world was thrown into sharp relief, even in her cartoony style, by intruding on her otherwise pleasant repose abroad-- an intrusion she resents, wanting to hide as much from the news of the outside world as she does from thoughts of her future. Though she starts and ends her trip unsure about her future, she emerges from her refuge on the Left Bank with a renewed serenity, prepared to face it, no matter what it is. And of course, a life-long love of French milk.<br />
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<a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/French-Milk/Lucy-Knisley/9781416575344/browse_inside">Browse an excerpt of <i>French Milk</i> here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">⊗⊗⊗⊗</span><span style="font-size: large;">½<span>/5</span></span></span>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-85930637097760670682010-10-19T00:09:00.000-07:002010-10-23T17:07:21.284-07:00HOPELESS SAVAGES: Greatest Hits, by Jen Van Meter and various artists<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hopeless-Savages-Greatest-Hits-TP/dp/1934964484?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 0em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRhceBTCNSdKphOQBB1AuXahV5Dz1_jMJb6GEo_83yNDAf44WNyclfhANozDBV4pfnwEfxGJtiFG_EDXdd4oBjUlWbLGAS3ENYDoGxsm1RW02GhcuWUKZSXnNHpqQP4tv2-zMTPGCIKsk/s200/4cacc6c6edb62.jpg" width="133" /></a>When Zero Hopeless-Savage wakes up one morning to find her punk rocker parents, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, kidnapped by fascist music execs, it's up to her and her siblings, martial artist Arsenal, mod theater designer Twitch, and the long-lost Rat--who rebelled and became a respectable businessman--to team up and rescue them. But it is only the first of many quagmires that the family find themselves in. In this bind-up volume collecting three previously published stories, this punk-rock family takes on enemies ranging from the paparazzi to international smuggling rings to high school administrators--and none of them escape the Hopeless-Savages unscathed!<br />
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I want to join this family so badly. Forget the Cullens or the Weasleys, if I could join one fictional family, it would be the Hopeless-Savages. Who wouldn't? Famous parents, a badass older sister, a burgeoning rocker younger sister, a cool gay brother, and yes, even a corporate coffee shill eldest brother-- all of them forging their own paths in life, with the full love and support of their wholly unconventional family (though Zero did take it pretty personally when Rat "defected"). Nothing that comes their way in their awesome adventures can beat them as long as they're together, at least in spirit. Supporting the main storylines are some "bonus tracks" and "B-sides" with some fun vignettes revealing, among other tidbits of Hopeless-Savage lore, the origins of Zero's band, the Dusted Bunnies, and how Twitch and Arsenal met their boyfriends.<br />
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Van Meter's writing is wonderfully scored by a range of fantastic artists, including the frenetic Chynna Clugston, the soulful Ross Campbell, and this blog's perennial favorite Bryan Lee O'Malley. But don't take my word for it-- check them out, and then get the whole book:<br />
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Previews: <span id="goog_880684027"></span><a href="http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/44">Part 1<span id="goog_880684028"></span></a>, <a href="http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/45">Part 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/46">Part 3</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">⊗⊗⊗⊗<span style="font-size: large;">/5</span></span>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-79611997368480714242010-10-16T20:17:00.000-07:002010-10-17T08:46:21.036-07:00The Return of Book Blogger Hop!I've kind of given the <a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com/">Book Blogger Hop </a>a by since I got back to school and haven't been reviewing too much, but since I'm starting to get back into it, I'm hopping back in! This week's question:<b> </b><br />
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<b>WHEN YOU READ A BOOK THAT YOU JUST CAN'T GET INTO, DO YOU STICK IT OUT AND KEEP READING OR MOVE TO YOUR NEXT TITLE?</b> </div>
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Inevitably, I convince myself I'm going to finish it, but then never pick it up again. I usually have a few books going at a time anyway, so it doesn't seem like I'm skipping it or moving on or anything-- I'm just reading the other books more, that's all, honest. Though this happens more with prose than comics, since comics are faster reads anyway-- I'll usually finish them before I realize I think they suck! The only graphic novel I couldn't finish was Jeff Smith's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Complete-Cartoon-Epic-One/dp/188896314X?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bone</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=188896314X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>, which I know is utter blasphemy. I didn't think it was bad--in fact I did find it charming--but it just didn't grab my attention. Plus it was a library book and I was sick of renewing it.<br />
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<b> </b></div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-82399485822102078602010-10-16T16:31:00.000-07:002010-10-16T16:34:18.401-07:00In My Pull #2Yesterday, I wandered over to <a href="http://www.wizardworld.com/home-newengland.html">New England Comic Con</a>, which didn't really make up for me missing New York Comic Con last week, but I did get a lot of $5 trades! (Several of which I plan to review here-- when I finally get through the backlog of other comics I want to review /o\) So I figure it's time for my second In My Pull, featuring many of my NECC scores, and a few I've obtained since the last one. Amazon links and descriptions under the cut.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6jARPmPk_gFxPxHUKflpxvmSxCKWi_ldGOd3eDrBYhJJQ5IKmApzDpC9v_2wO0qhWdSOe_fm2cXMspTMGuafU2WauQyhUGmgLz6E00X0oaP4seOp6oNfjJY9gehLDYTsSFlBJnQxWDx8/s1600/IMP2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6jARPmPk_gFxPxHUKflpxvmSxCKWi_ldGOd3eDrBYhJJQ5IKmApzDpC9v_2wO0qhWdSOe_fm2cXMspTMGuafU2WauQyhUGmgLz6E00X0oaP4seOp6oNfjJY9gehLDYTsSFlBJnQxWDx8/s400/IMP2b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Suburban-Glamour-Jamie-Mckelvie/dp/1582408785?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Suburban Glamour</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1582408785" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: Life's tough when you're a teenager - homework, boy trouble, and
meddling parents. So when you throw in imaginary friends turned real,
monster attacks, and faerie magic - well, that's just not fair, is it?
Suburban Glamour follows Astrid Johnson as she and her best friend Dave
get caught in a faerie family battle that stretches back through the
centuries. Modern teenage life meets age-old magic in this story from
the co-creator of Phonogram!<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Phonogram-Rue-Britannia-Kieron-Gillen/dp/1582406944?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Phonogram: Rue Britannia</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1582406944" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: Britannia is ten years dead. Phonomancer David Kohl hadn't spared his
old patron a thought for almost as long... at which point his mind
starts to unravel. Can he discover what's happened to the Mod-Goddess of
Britpop while there's still something of himself left? Dark
modern-fantasy in a world where music is magic, where a song can save
your life or end it.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Girls-Steve-Vance/dp/1401223591?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bad Girls</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1401223591" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: It's tough being the new girl in town. Starting over at a new school. Not
having any friends. Especially when the popular girls all have
super-powers! Lauren is the new girl in the mall-and-beach town
of San Narciso, CA. Even though this is her third high school in two
years, she's determined to call this one home. But she quickly finds
herself trying to navigate the minefield of the teenage social
hierarchy! Should she hang with the outcasts or with a clique of
super-powered popular girls? What mystery lies just beneath the school's
brand-new walls? And through it all, what to wear?<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hopeless-Savages-Greatest-Hits-TP/dp/1934964484?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1934964484" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: It's the total swerval return of the First Family of Punk! Dirk Hopeless
and Nikki Strange went from the parties, touring, and recording studios
of rock stardom to the quiet of the suburbs, but that's no reason they
can't still be themselves. Join Dirk and Nikki, along with their kids
Rat, Arsenal, Twitch, and Zero as they bounce their way through
kidnapping plots, first love, and international intrigue in this massive
collection of the Eisner Award-nominated series!
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dead-17-Ultimate-Josh-Howard/dp/1607060906?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dead@17</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1607060906" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: When 17-year-old Nara Kilday is murdered at the hands of a demonic cult,
the quiet suburb of Darlington Hills is turned upside down. But when
Nara inexplicably returns form the dead, what seems like a miracle at
first may in fact spell the end for mankind!<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dreamer-Consequence-Nathan-Hale-Pt/dp/1600104657?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Dreamer</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1600104657" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: Creator Lora Innes writes and illustrates the tale of 17-year-old
Beatrice "Bea" Whaley, a student who begins having vivid dreams about a
brave and handsome soldier named Alan Warren... a member of an elite
group known as Knowlton's Rangers that fought during the Revolutionary
War. Prone to keeping her head in the clouds, Bea welcomes her nightly
adventures in 1776; filled with danger and romance they give her much to
muse about the next day. But it is not long before Beatrice questions
whether her dreams are simply dreams or something more...<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Supermarket-Brian-Wood/dp/1600103537?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Supermarket</a></i>: Brian Wood's fast-paced, dangerous world of Supermarket is back in its
second printing, with a new format! In the future world of Supermarket,
it's the literal truth. Legitimate and black-market economies rule the
City, overseen by the vying factions of the Yakuza and Porno Swede crime
families. Convenience store clerkette and 16-year old suburban wise-ass
Pella Suzuki suddenly finds herself in the middle of it all, heir to an
empire she couldn't possibly inherit - but hitmen on both sides aren't
taking any chances!<i> </i><br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/War-Ellsmere-Faith-Erin-Hicks/dp/159362140X?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The War at Ellsmere</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=159362140X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>: Faith Erin Hicks brings her manga-fueled art style and pop-culture
sensibilities to girl's boarding schools in her latest book The War at
Ellsmere. Jun is the newest scholarship student at the prestigious
Ellsmere girls' boarding school - but to a lot of the privileged rich
girls, scholarship student is just a code for charity case. Fortunately,
Jun has an ally in the quirky Cassie, who tells her legends of a
beautiful creature that lives in the forest outside of the school.
Between queen bees and mythical beasts, Jun has quite the school year
ahead of her.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-80115384607308614342010-09-18T16:04:00.000-07:002010-09-18T16:04:40.083-07:00THE P.L.A.I.N. JANES written by Cecil Castellucci, art by Jim Rugg<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Plain-Janes-Minx-Cecil-Castellucci/dp/1401211151?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjr1BH_PSrRQ9q4iSzNh_QaBmaSELAA6dc3ps7XN6HzP1_DaneiaE_zKa5zHWjDvb1mI-gm4C_LdRrzg98lY6AJ1IzEH4jeH8OSoOHzK6LLeWHQb6ol6wsqbqMeEzE5YfiZyXdncbMYakb/s200/Cecil+Castellucci+Jim+Ruff+Plain+Janes+DC+Minx.jpg" width="131" /></a>After surviving a terrorist bombing, Jane is left with questions about her identity and the sketchbook of a comatose John Doe from the attack. She resolves to find her true self through art and abandons her carefree-blond-popular girl persona. When her family moves out to the suburbs, she soon enlists her new 'tribe' of misfits -- dramatic "Theater" Jane, studious "Brain" Jayne, and "Sporty" Polly Jane -- to spread cheer and beauty through the terrified community by forming a guerrilla art gang known as P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods). Soon they're building pyramids in empty lots and knitting hats for fire hydrants. But it's not long before the town grows paranoid about persons unknown sneaking around at night and calling P.L.A.I.N.'s "art attacks" vandalism. How can the Janes convince them that "Art Saves"?<br />
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I've love Cecil Castellucci's quirky plots and creative heroines since her debut novel <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Proof-Cecil-Castellucci/dp/0763627968?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Boy Proof</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0763627968" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>, and the Janes did not disappoint. There is something infinitely appealing about the idea of taking art to the streets, and the sheer variety of PLAIN's art attacks make the book worth reading. But of course, it's the characters that really grab you. In a relatively short book, Main Jane goes from a girl who takes refuge in the idea of cliques in her own group of outcasts, to the girl who unites the school--from the one-man Queer Club, James, to the queen bee, Cindy--under one banner. Her one-sided relationship with the comatose John Doe is touching and sweet, and the mysterious Damon is an excellent romantic foil. Castellucci also avoids the pitfall of many prose authors writing comics and keeps a smooth balance between words and pictures.<br />
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Jim Rugg's art is clean, cute, and fun-- perfect for the story! Even the bombing scene, which one would think would be far too incongruous with such a sweet art style, works fantastically, underlining Main Jane's loss of innocence. And Damon is wonderfully swoony, even though he's just simple pen and ink.<br />
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Verdict: <i>The PLAIN Janes</i> is an upbeat story for anyone who considers themselves a dreamer, but it probably won't convert many cynics. You can read a <a href="http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/7218_x.pdf">17-page PDF preview here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">⊗⊗⊗⊗<span style="font-size: small;">/5</span></span>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-45897019616884442992010-09-15T10:44:00.000-07:002010-09-15T10:45:41.993-07:00SANDMAN: PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES (Vol. 1) written by Neil Gaiman, art by Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sandman-Vol-Preludes-Nocturnes-New/dp/1401225756?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 0em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMvbW6h7K_XlbubDuJmIKS_mH8rylV8nUSChXXIJ-y6TYts1zqgYryTdqRI4a0KlgujFdNa5VljOwwmAtjwFUfV5q-vG-dRLIQVcxrZ3Pe9cPEgMkNMuiCJSWg46Dt9O_uIPQC4FWOyoz/s200/14398_180x270.jpg" width="133" /></a>The more I work on this blog, discuss it with friends, and field questions from new readers, the more I start thinking about where I was when I first started reading comics and how I got to this point from there. So it occurred to me that I should start at the beginning and talk about the first comic book I ever read, and how it snagged me into the comics form for life.<br />
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I had heard of Neil Gaiman here and there, and one day after reading a short story he had written online, I ran to my friends and asked if any of them had any of his books that I could borrow. One of my friends piped up that he had written a series of comic books that she could lend me if I wanted them, though it was clear she understood there was a chance I would reject them outright just for being comics and not prose. But I was in an adventurous mood, and I wanted to read more of Neil Gaiman's work so I accepted her offer. The next day, she brought three volumes of <i>Sandman</i>, and I spent the weekend buried in their glory.<br />
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It's hard to describe what <i>Sandman</i> is about-- it's one of those books where what <i>happens</i> is secondary to the ideas it explores. But it starts with a group of dark magicians attempting to imprison Death, only to instead imprison Death's brother-- Dream, the titular Sandman. The first volume follows Dream (also known as Morpheus, Lord Shaper, Oneiros, and about 20 other titles) as he makes his escape, gets his revenge, and reclaims his kingdom. And it is creepy-- beautifully creepy. A lot of that is the artwork; Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg's drawings are the stuff of nightmares, hallucinations, and surreal dreams. But Gaiman's storytelling is the tree the art grows from.<br />
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By anthropomorphizing Dream in the way humans long have done with Death, Gaiman is able to explore the deepest recesses of the human psyche, telling stories that really revolve more around a common theme rather than a character or plot. Ultimately, <i>Sandman</i> is about the power of dreams and imagination, for good or ill. I shuddered in one scene, where Dream is facing a hoard of demons, and he is taunted by the Lords of Hell who ask why they should let him leave. Dream responds calmly, <i>Ask yourselves, all of you, what power would Hell have if those imprisoned here could not dream of Heaven?</i> And the final chapter of the first volume, "The Sound of Her Wings," where we meet his <i>sister</i> Death, is a quiet and beautiful meditation on death and life.<br />
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Neil Gaiman has become far more successful and famous in 15 years since <i>Sandman</i> ended than possibly any other comics creator before him, and <i>Sandman</i> is barely even in the top ten of his most well-known works anymore, but if any of his works deserve to be read, it's this one. This series grabbed me in a way only few works have before or since, and it showed me what I was missing by not reading comics. That an epic work of such imagination was outside my ken before I stumbled into it was to me a massive oversight that <i>had</i> to be corrected. And since I have immersed myself in the comics medium, I have only found more and more of such works, works that could not and would not have been done in any other medium. It is what addicted me and why I am such an evangelist of the form. If you read no other comics in your life, give <i>Sandman</i> a chance.<br />
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You can download a <a href="http://dccomics.com/media/excerpts/14398_1.pdf">PDF of the first issue</a> from the DC/Vertigo website.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-75688764527060324442010-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:002010-09-14T12:51:04.054-07:00Teen Girls to Get Comics Magazine-- Based on Stereotypes.I emerge from under a pile of textbooks, not to post a review alas, but to vent some spleen.<br />
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You may or may not have heard of Mark Millar. He's a comic book writer whose works <i>Wanted</i> and <i>Kick-Ass</i> were the basis of the films of the same name. He also recently launched a comics magazine--with both comics and general pop-culture articles--called CLiNT, aimed at the 16-30 male demographic. Now he's talking about <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/move-over-bunty-comic-guru-will-kick-your-ass-1.1054492">starting a similar magazine for teenage girls</a>, featuring mostly female talent, and edited by a woman magazine editor friend of his. So far, so good. What sort of material will this magazine contain?<br />
<blockquote>
<i>It will have a definite Twilight-style supernatural theme.</i> </blockquote>
Okay, cool-- I love the supernatural trend in YA lit. While I hope for a little more variety than <i>just</i> the Twilight sort of supernatural stories, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he's using "Twilight" as a buzzword. Though, I'm a little concerned that he doesn't seem to have done quite enough research into the field-- a lot of YA pundits are foretelling the decline of supernatural YA (and even I'm getting a little fatigued every time I go to Borders), and there has been a rise in other genres (hello, <i>The Hunger Games</i>!) Still, nothing would prevent them from shifting genres once it gets going. What else does he have to say about that?<br />
<blockquote>
<i>That’s the difference between male and female tastes: men are interested in
superheroes while women look to the supernatural.</i></blockquote>
...<br />
<br />
WHAT.<br />
<br />
Women don't like superheroes? Forget how nearly every superhero movie audience is half women or how much of a sex-symbol Robert Downey Jr. has become since donning the Iron Man armor. Never mind the outspoken female comics blogosphere, or that one of DC's top writers is Gail Simone. Millar wants to build this magazine off of <i>Twilight</i>'s success, but is completely oblivious to the fact that Stephenie Meyer herself is a <i>huge</i> comic book fan who gave all of her vampires a unique power like the X-Men have, and has never hesitated to drop a reference to Batman or Iron Man in any of her interviews.<br />
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And men don't like the supernatural? Ironically, one of CLiNT's main features is a comic called <i>Turf</i> about a female reporter in 1920s New York investigating mysterious and bloody deaths that seem to follow in the wake of a strange and pale Hungarian family (spoiler: They're vampires!) And it is written and drawn by two <i>men</i>! Not to mention, one of comics' biggest success stories of the past 20 years is Neil Gaiman, who launched to superstardom writing the <i>supernatural</i> comic series <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sandman-Vol-Preludes-Nocturnes/dp/1563890119?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Sandman</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1563890119" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, before going on to become a New York Times best-selling and award-winning author.<br />
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Mr. Millar, what do you have to say to that?<br />
<blockquote>
<i>“– though, obviously, that’s a sweeping
generalisation.”</i></blockquote>
Oh, I guess <i>that's</i> all right then! Yes, sweeping generalizations are a-okay if you simply point them out afterwards. It's much easier, I suppose, than just <i>not making them in the first place</i>. I suppose that there's no better way to explain why he was going for the supernatural angle than "girls don't like superheroes." It's not like citing one of the decade's biggest-selling series would have been enough to convince us. And you couldn't just say "It will have a supernatural theme because that's what girls are reading today," because then everyone would wonder, "But what about the <i>boys</i>?"<br />
<br />
Look, I have every hope that such a magazine will get off the ground, and that it being run by a woman will smooth out all of these stereotypes and assumptions that Millar thoughtlessly spouted. I hope it will become a showcase for all the great female talent out there. I also hope there will be room for all genres--including superheroes. Because if the rise of YA lit has shown us anything, it's that teenage girls love <i>stories</i>, and any magazine that forgets that or tries to pigeonhole them does so at its own peril.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-48928324032949756292010-08-26T12:43:00.000-07:002010-08-26T12:43:24.520-07:00I'm Not Dead Yet!In case anyone was wondering where I've been, never fear! I have not died nor even give up on this blog. Actually, I've just been very busy, what with starting the school year and getting a new job. Thankfully, one of the virtues of comics is the relatively short time-span it takes to read them fits really well into a busy schedule, so I've got plenty of books lined up to review, and I intend to take the weekend to write and schedule their posting. I hope to get at least one a week up and keep up with the news too. And there's also my <a href="http://www.twitter.com/OhYAComics">Twitter feed</a>, which gets (slightly) more attention.<br />
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See you all around, same bat place, different bat time!Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-8951256891742563692010-08-06T18:55:00.000-07:002010-08-06T18:57:52.619-07:00Friday Stuff!<br />
<center><a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com/"><img alt="Book Blogger Hop" height="150" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt34/crazybookblog/cfbmemebutton-2.png" width="150" /></a><a href="http://www.parajunkee.com/search/label/FF" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4710921228_bf32d46f6d_o.png" width="100" /></a></center><br />
It's been a crazy week for me personally, and it's only going to get crazier from here, so I'm afraid that the Scott Pilgrim movie review is all that's happening around here (though I have plenty in the works!) Part of the craziness involved going to a pretty great flea market, which means <i>cheap back issues!!</i> Even though I make it a point not to review single issues or anything not available as a trade paperback, I still think any bibliophile can get behind the joy of tracking down a book you've been looking for or making a new discovery-- both of which I did!<br />
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Anyway, this week's Hop question is:<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN YOU READ? IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE READING TUNES?</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Alas, not really, no. I tend to prefer ambient noise to actual structured music in the background when I read. I'm not sure if it's a concentration thing-- it doesn't really seem to matter how loud the "background" noise is, I can still pay more attention when I read with jackhammers going next to my window. That said, I can't read in total silence either-- it's just too oppressive-- so that's usually when I turn to music. I try to match the genre of the music to the genre of the story, but I try not to play songs with too many vocals. For sci-fi and/or action stories, I will put on my "Pierre Henry" station on Pandora, which gets me a sort of early-techno, somewhat jazzy selection; my "Love Is Blue" station is good for romance. But if nothing else fits, the Beatles are the perfect standby (though I may have to be picky about the era-- not all books that fit a "Please Please Me" song fit an "Abbey Road song), even though they're just full of vocals!</div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-90341825106037651002010-08-01T16:02:00.000-07:002010-08-01T16:03:17.506-07:00SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD movie review!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis40z3xqMit8qE9DYicm5jbZeoxwvG5TAWgZSqL-CMTj33XRfdbV0pm9Wmd4HYtu6k-BczBJy7SoQG3IJ3qcGthSB3t_WuYjaWzzLRVGhdS9b4YG0DL4lFCsweiwMLdQtlWuAb8G_0fqvW/s1600/scott_pilgrim_vs_the_world_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis40z3xqMit8qE9DYicm5jbZeoxwvG5TAWgZSqL-CMTj33XRfdbV0pm9Wmd4HYtu6k-BczBJy7SoQG3IJ3qcGthSB3t_WuYjaWzzLRVGhdS9b4YG0DL4lFCsweiwMLdQtlWuAb8G_0fqvW/s200/scott_pilgrim_vs_the_world_ver2.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
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At the risk of turning this place into a Scott Pilgrim blog, I feel like I owe the world my review of the movie <i>Scott Pilgrim vs. the World</i>, which I was lucky enough to catch an advanced screening of last Wednesday!<br />
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My gut reaction right after I saw the movie was memorialized with the tweet: <a href="http://twitter.com/OhYAComics/status/19784457009">"...WOW. My brain asplode,"</a> as well as the next day's, <a href="http://twitter.com/OhYAComics/status/19825094895">"My eyes are still jangling from last night..."</a> And that holds, because the Director of Photography is Bill Pope, and he did <i>The Matrix</i> and the live-action <i>Speed Racer</i>, which should tell you a thing or two about the visuals (especially if you saw <i>Speed Racer</i>). Namely, that they were <i>perfect</i> for the material. <i>Scott Pilgrim</i> is a romantic comedy video game, which means that skimping on the visuals would spell disaster, but the film delivered. If you've ever played an old-school NES game, you will have a nerdgasm when Scott "gets a life" and when Gideon, Ramona's 7th evil ex, pulls a pixelated sword out of thin air. And I believe this is the first movie in history where when a bad guy is defeated, they explode into a pile of coins (even if it's not always enough to even pay for the bus).<br />
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Combining all six volumes of the comic into one movie meant that there was never a dull moment, whether Scott is practicing with his band or fighting Ramona's evil exes or ordering coffee from his barista sister (the marvelous Anna Kendrick who didn't get enough screentime but had some of the best lines). I loved that they preserved the comics' intro captions whenever a new character is introduced-- it was not only a nice nod to the comics, but it also helped to keep track of the many characters. Obviously some changes were made to the plot to keep it under 5 hours, but the bulk of the story was kept and it was a perfectly coherent story in its own right.<br />
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All of the actors were perfectly cast for their characters-- even my initial doubts about Brandon Routh as the vegan-mystic Todd Ingram (Evil Ex #3) and Kieran Culkin as Scott's snarky gay roommate Wallace Wells were completely demolished. Wallace, who is my favorite character in the comics, remained so for the movie-- nothing's funnier than watching him text gossip about Scott all around Toronto in his sleep. And as an <i>Arrested Development</i> fan, there was a particular glee in watching Michael Cera and Mae Whitman (Evil Ex #4!) battle it out.<br />
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Do yourself a big favor and see this movie. It's funny and quirky and possibly the first film really of our "Millennial" generation. <i>Scott Pilgrim vs. The World</i> will be released in theaters in the US on August 13th.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-65287277673199395002010-07-30T17:58:00.000-07:002010-07-30T19:23:19.417-07:00Book Blogger Hop! Follow Friday!<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com/"><img alt="Book Blogger Hop" height="150" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt34/crazybookblog/cfbmemebutton-2.png" width="150" /></a><a href="http://www.parajunkee.com/search/label/FF" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4710921228_bf32d46f6d_o.png" width="100" /></a></div><br />
Adding to last week's Book Blogger Hop, I thought I'd join in Parajunkee's Follow Friday-- hello and welcome to all new people! Hope you poke around and see something you like (though I'm only a few weeks into this). Suggestions of all sorts are truly welcome. Anyway, onto the question Hop question!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b>WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE NEW-TO-YOU AUTHOR SO FAR THIS YEAR?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Agh, so hard to say-- I've read so many new-to-me writers this year! I guess I'd have to say Bryan Q. Miller, writer of the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Batgirl-Vol-1-Rising/dp/1401227236?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Batgirl</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1401227236" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> series (with the new Batgirl Stephanie Brown!) He's done such a great job with the character, really developing her as a realistic college freshman who happens to be a superhero, and a Bat at that! Steph's always been one of my favorite characters, so to have her in the hands of a capable writer who really grasps all of the things I love about her has been immensely satisfying to me.</div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-72430671713193058752010-07-27T18:07:00.000-07:002010-08-14T19:41:28.737-07:00SCORPION: POISON TOMORROW, written by Fred Van Lente, art by Leonard Kirk<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scorpion-Poison-Tomorrow-Avengers-World/dp/0785117121?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvmy5nlWv4gL9Gb1oluxSDLOauTfIFI6yCGtjmELun35ESI6dAWvWoyKoeqKvonArsFyeDXfzfLE49CsKPA60NhclvlucWfuJ16yzT5yCzuwcIZuhiZ3zqtSXZUF35CwH15-pqUveTNMh/s200/1296076-scr__pt_super.jpg" width="128" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0785117121" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />When she was 16, Carmilla Black's left arm flared up with deadly toxins, killing her prom date instantly. Terrified, she fled, leaving behind her adoptive parents, the only family she ever knew. She comes out of exile three years later when she learns they have been murdered. Among their personal effects, she finds her real birth certificate-- including her birth mother's name. She travels to the South Asian nation of Madripoor, where she was born, in hopes of finding some answers about her fatal sting and what her mother's been up to-- after being recruited by the multinational counterterrorism force SHIELD to do so.<br />
<br />
A great espionage adventure with a splash of superpowers! The spy thriller story deftly intertwines with Carmilla's own quest to make sense of her powers and her personal tragedies to build towards the big reveal of the reason for her existence. Her hesitant romance with fellow tourist Troy is very cute, even though she has trouble trusting him-- due in no small part to her SHIELD handlers' paranoia over who he is and why he is interested in her (but that's not to say he's <i>not</i> hiding something...) In fact, Van Lente handles all of her trust issues very believably, whether she's questioning Troy's intentions or even SHIELD's true purpose; it is very clear that Carmilla <i>wants</i> someone to trust, but she's been too hurt to do it easily. The art is crisp, clean and easy to follow. Kirk is especially good at facial expressions-- even when Carmilla's face is half-covered by her mask, her emotions are clearly expressed in her eyes.<br />
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One pretty major complaint, though-- an over-arching question of the book is who killed her adoptive parents and why is never answered outright. Plenty of theories are put forward and fingers are pointed, but it's never definitively answered. As far as I can tell, they planned on writing more and making it a series, but it got canceled for one reason or another. It's frustrating, but it's not really a deal-breaker for an otherwise very enjoyable story.<br />
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You can read the first <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=4800">11 pages here</a>, and read what Van Lente had planned for future volumes! <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">⊗⊗⊗⊗<span style="font-size: large;">/5</span></span>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-49384891621286990622010-07-26T16:01:00.000-07:002010-07-27T18:17:24.057-07:00A "Brief" History of Independent Comics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_HIpvZO8dAhTunk-EODqGaXFgkYBqlJBZo2Z4T4v0W7eZFLTy32LMR2nw7KK7WhhK04ZT1cObvKxqmcr-xOp2gN9Sf9PW5wpkUvFythsGj0Zr7CuLYtA0QzYh0TDCG9sUB6VTM3VAE2Qa/s1600/isupportindiecomics.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_HIpvZO8dAhTunk-EODqGaXFgkYBqlJBZo2Z4T4v0W7eZFLTy32LMR2nw7KK7WhhK04ZT1cObvKxqmcr-xOp2gN9Sf9PW5wpkUvFythsGj0Zr7CuLYtA0QzYh0TDCG9sUB6VTM3VAE2Qa/s320/isupportindiecomics.png" /></a></div><i>In my travels around the YA blogosphere, I came across a very admirable campaign, <a href="http://alexreadsbooks.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-support-indie-authors-my-new-campaign.html">"I Support Indie Authors"</a>, promoting awareness of self-published prose authors. And that got me thinking about the role of indie comics in the medium...and then it got out of hand. </i><i>Mea culpa. If you're not interested in the history of indie comics, then you can stop reading at the cut.</i><br />
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Today, indie comics are a vital part of the comics field. Conventions set aside "indie islands" for those creators. Anyone who can run their work through a photocopier is considered published. Creators come together in collectives to publish anthologies and support each other. Comic book stores will happily sell self-published comics from local and not-so-local creators. The Internet has made it possible for any creator to instantly share their work with the world and sell books right off their website. And indie comics have one major and important advantage over indie prose books-- their work is equally respected by the big corporate publishers. In fact, it is a rare writer or artist today that starts out immediately with an established publisher. But rather than looking down upon them disdainfully the way big book publishers look at self-published novels, the big comics publishers trawl the self-published comics looking for the next big talent!<br />
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Of course, it's been a long, strange trip to this point, but one thing is for sure-- they've earned our respect!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The roots of independent comics go back nearly as far as comics themselves. In the "Golden Age" of comics-- the '30s and '40s-- comics were a sort of Wild West of popular culture. Basically anyone who could hold a pencil could find work in comics, and just about anything went in terms of genre and content. Though superheroes were the big sellers, there were also war, crime, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, adventure, horror, and every other genre under the sun. By the 1950s, the comics readership was growing up, and a few publishers grew up with them.<br />
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First and foremost among the more "mature" comics publishers was EC (Entertaining Comics). EC allowed its creators to develop their own unique style and to sign their name to their work--something no other publisher allowed them to do at the time. Unsurprisingly, EC comics contained the best writing and art in comics of the era (and for the most part it still holds up today). But what EC was best known for was its horror comics-- including such titles as <i>Tales from the Crypt</i> and <i>Weird Science</i>. They were the first to publish horror comics, and theirs were the best-- the goriest, the most violent, and the twistiest endings ever dreamed up. But this was 1950s America, and comics were a "junk" form consumed mostly by children and adolescents. It wasn't long before the Moral Guardians came knocking.<br />
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Under pressure from the US Senate (no, really), the comics industry imposed a strict self-censorship code. But EC publisher William M. Gaines was unwilling to kowtow to the new censorship rules and EC died soon after--except for its satire magazine, <i>MAD</i>, which survives to this day. Unfortunately for the Moral Guardians, the generation that read EC comics were the Baby Boomers, and once the 1960s hit, they were hippies and yippies and Communists and civil rights activists-- all of them questioning authority and the status quo. A new generation of artists remembered fondly the visceral thrill of EC comics, and none of them wanted anything to do with what they perceived as sanitized pap of the mainstream comics industry. So they went underground.<br />
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While there had been independent comics before, they really became a movement starting with R. Crumb's <i>Zap Comix</i>. Coming out of San Francisco, sold in head shops and record stores, underground comix were about <i>everything</i> the Establishment reviled-- drugs, free love and promiscuous sex, drugs, radical politics, drugs, racial commentary, and drugs. Feminists and women's libbers had their voice in <i>Wimmin's Comix</i>; the burgeoning gay rights movement had <i>Gay Comix</i>. The underground was funny, violent, obscene, and shocking for the sake of it.<br />
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As '60s radicalism died out, and comic book distribution moved off newsstands and into dedicated comic shops, underground comix evolved into the modern independent comics movement. Underground cartoonist Art Spiegelman and his French wife, Françoise Mouly (where comics have been a respected artform for much longer) started an art comics magazine called <i>RAW</i> in 1980, where amidst the work of their underground colleagues, Spiegelman serialized his father's Holocaust memoir <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Maus-Survivors-Tale-No/dp/0679406417?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Maus</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0679406417" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992.<br />
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Meanwhile, a new generation of creators were self-publishing their work all across North America. In Ontario, Dave Sim started his sword-and-sorcery satire epic <i>Cerebus</i> in 1977, and he still resists mainstream bookstore distribution of the trade paperbacks (side note-- while his artistic integrity is admirable, I cannot recommend his work due his rampant, galloping misogyny that rears its ugly head about halfway through.) Other independent comics creations, like Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's <i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</i> and Ben Edlund's <i>The Tick</i> not only showed that independent comics could also have fun heroics, but they also found enormous mainstream success.<br />
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Eventually, in the old guard of comics publishers, namely Marvel and DC, creators were finally getting fed up in a big way with the editorial policies of those companies, and the fact that they did not own the copyrights to their work. Finally in 1992, seven of the biggest artists at Marvel broke off and formed their own company, Image Comics, with a radical editorial policy: none. Any aspiring creator could send their project to Image, and if it was accepted, they retained complete editorial control and all copyrights and subsidiary rights to it, while still benefiting from Image's high profile and status with comics distributors. And if a creator's work is hugely successful, they can be made a partner in the firm, giving them a voice in how it's run.<br />
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More than any other medium, comics offer creators a choice in how to publish and distribute their work, and it adds to the richness and creativity of the field. The role of indie creators in the comics field cannot be overstated, and as such their work deserves our support, and their struggle to get recognized and find their audience deserves to be honored.<br />
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If you would like to know more about the evolution of indie comics (and see interviews with significant creators), I recommend the documentary <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Comic-Book-Confidential-Lynda-Barry/dp/B000067IY3?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Comic Book Confidential</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000067IY3" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>. If you want to know more about EC comics, the moral panic, and censorship of comics in the 1950s, read <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Cent-Plague-Comic-Book-Changed-America/dp/0312428235?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Ten-Cent Plague</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0312428235" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-8285212058534344632010-07-23T00:22:00.000-07:002010-07-30T19:22:22.747-07:00Book Blogger Hop!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crazy-for-books.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Book Blogger Hop" height="150" src="http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt34/crazybookblog/cfbmemebutton-2.png" width="150" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">After coming across the Book Blogger Hop in my many travels around the book blogosphere, I became encouraged that I could get some readers for this blog, the idea for which had been kicking around my brain for a while. So, hello and welcome to my new blog! I hope you stick around and let me get you addicted to my drug of choice! And now for the question:</div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>TELL US ABOUT THE BOOK YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING!</b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">A book I bought a while ago and finally got around to reading: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scorpion-Poison-Tomorrow-Avengers-World/dp/0785117121?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Scorpion: Poison Tomorrow</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0785117121" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>. It's technically in the Marvel Universe, but it's very much on the edges of it. A girl's adopted parents are murdered not long after she discovers that her right arm can turn into a deadly weapon. Soon she uncovers some shocking truths about her birth mother and finds herself in the middle of a struggle between various government agencies and terrorist cells-- but who should she really trust?</span><span style="font-size: small;"> Marvel tried a ton of books like this 5 or so years ago that failed to find their audience, which is why I want to bring them to you now. Better late than never!</span></div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-30141348708860301412010-07-22T23:32:00.000-07:002010-07-22T23:33:04.234-07:00In My Pull #1I thought I'd adapt the "In My Mailbox" feature of other blogs to this here comics blog. I changed it to "In My Pull" because that's what comics geeks call the books they've asked their local comic shop (LCS) to hold for them (both are those comicsy-lingo words that you can find in the <a href="http://ohyacomics.blogspot.com/p/glossary.html">Glossary</a>). Of course, I'll just include whichever books I happen to obtain in any way, whether in my actual pull or not. I hope to do this fairly regularly, but since I already own so many of the books I want to review, it probably won't happen too much for a while. Anyway, onto the pull (not including Scott Pilgrim 6):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaZpYtfan8zBCT-N8UZeraK5sgPEJzr-76ayPxEf9Id5rpqCzRKy_PpgcnnF2g_5wSOhO3WTklhcorSMjPas3_3NKntZqKE4PVLktPD9XBRhmB5Y63OIjCZEwH8zFljAmWbp6G_AD9RXl/s1600/inmypull1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaZpYtfan8zBCT-N8UZeraK5sgPEJzr-76ayPxEf9Id5rpqCzRKy_PpgcnnF2g_5wSOhO3WTklhcorSMjPas3_3NKntZqKE4PVLktPD9XBRhmB5Y63OIjCZEwH8zFljAmWbp6G_AD9RXl/s400/inmypull1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mercury-Hope-Larson/dp/1416935851?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Mercury</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1416935851" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> by Hope Larson. A parallel history story between girls living in the same house 150 years apart. Really looking forward to this.</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Masked-Lou-Anders/dp/1439168822?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Masked</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1439168822" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> edited by Lou Anders. Not actually comics! A <i>prose</i> anthology of superhero stories by top comics writers (including some prose&comics writers like Marjorie M. Liu and Mike Carey).</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rumble-Girls-Silky-Warrior-Tansie/dp/1561633704?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Rumble Girls: Silky Warrior Tansie</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1561633704" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> by Lea Hernandez. Girls fighting in robot suits. I could not resist.</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Apocalipstix-1-v-Ray-Fawkes/dp/1932664459?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Apocalipstix</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1932664459" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> written by Ray Fawkes, art by Cameron Stewart. Girls in a band touring after Armageddon. This promises to be a pretty sweet road trip story!</div>Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-2922198229437949992010-07-22T23:08:00.000-07:002010-08-14T19:44:48.704-07:00SCOTT PILGRIM'S PRECIOUS LITTLE LIFE (Vol. 1) by Bryan Lee O'Malley<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Pilgrim-Vol-Pilgrims-Precious/dp/1932664084?ie=UTF8&tag=thecir-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkez-Hw0LaMv9DTihyphenhyphenlTBFQe68rcWpBfmFHkjGRs44U_lh3Jl5HQF4zNxEqKpMLROBP2cjOmwv31cMNx_gQ2Mt1LHfmJf4197JiHQrpE1bXTCa-nEE7dOqd7K_R2uTXMWDk7ciFzy2G_-/s200/ScottPilgrim1.jpg" width="135" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecir-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1932664084" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><i>Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. But the path to Ms Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends stand in the way between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the girl without turning his precious little life upside-down?</i><br />
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<i> </i>If that description doesn't sell it to you, I'm not sure what will. This book (and series) offers a refreshing take on the slacker genre, where instead of spending his spare time <i>playing</i> video games, Scott Pilgrim inhabits a world that <i>is</i> a video game, and his life is filled with all the paradoxes of a real world gamer. Sure, he can fight Ramona's evil exes, but is he emotionally mature enough to keep the relationship going? And will he ever get up the courage to actually break up with his high school girlfriend? <br />
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The supporting characters turn this book into pure gold-- there's Wallace Wells, his suave gay roommate who he shares a bed with (because he can't afford his own!); the <i>female</i> drummer of his band Sex Bob-omb Kim Pine (don't tell her she's not the only one!); his more mature younger sister Stacy Pilgrim; Sex Bob-omb's only fan Young Neil; and Knives Chau, the Chinese Catholic schoolgirl whose relationship with Scott is so ridiculously chaste you worry more about what it says about his emotional maturity than his intentions with her.<br />
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This book also surmounts the challenge of writing a (obviously silent) book with a musical backdrop, as the music scenes are drawn with such raw energy that you'll at least feel the urge to bob your head. And it has something for everyone-- it's a romance for people who hate romance, a video game story for non-gamers, and the art is manga-style for people who hate manga. It's just funny, funny, funny. Now that the series is complete and the movie's about to come out, it's the best time to pick up this book (be cool and read it before you see the movie!) You can read a 34-page preview <a href="http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/182">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">⊗⊗⊗⊗⊗</span> (out of five!)Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-57920418166405963542010-07-20T11:50:00.000-07:002010-07-20T15:00:41.954-07:00Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour release party!<span style="font-size: 100%;">You may have seen the trailer for a new movie called </span><a href="http://www.scottpilgrimthemovie.com/"><span style="font-size: 100%; font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim vs. the World</span></a><span style="font-size: 100%;">, a slacker romantic comedy crossed with video games. It's directed by Edgar Wright, who made </span><span style="font-size: 100%; font-style: italic;">Shaun of the Dead</span><span style="font-size: 100%;">, which crossed romantic comedy with zombies, so he's good at that sort of thing. Here's the <a href="http://www.scottpilgrimthemovie.com/widget/videoWidget.html?v=intl">awesome international trailer</a>, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"> </span> <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, <span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim</span> happens to be a very popular comic book series. So popular in fact, that they made the film before the last book was even finished, let alone released to the public. The sixth and final volume <span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour</span> was released today-- and for some comic book stores, that meant at midnight.<br />
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Lucky for me, my local comic shop, the wonderful <a href="http://www.comicopia.com/">Comicopia</a> in Boston, was one of them. Since I'm good friends with the owner, I got there early, picked the music, took pictures, and ran to the back when he was running out of copies behind the counter. Good times were had by all-- about 30 people came, more people than I've ever seen in there at once. There were even some other bloggers there, but I forgot to get the name. (Ironically, this means the only picture of me at this party will be on someone else's blog!) But for my pics, read on! <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlXTyzdhrpSKG1A4fkUTiM2acpSJph9nG_fe-Aa5Y9AexaqfxsgJ2Dn8107oMKx11asd4NvkF7wXOLmKwiaqPyDuBfgldYf4dkmfo8ok1YE2U9jtVHLt7YoxPRtU1UVXevxsW2tocB3EM/s1600/2010-07-19+23.51.09.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496073043749297378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlXTyzdhrpSKG1A4fkUTiM2acpSJph9nG_fe-Aa5Y9AexaqfxsgJ2Dn8107oMKx11asd4NvkF7wXOLmKwiaqPyDuBfgldYf4dkmfo8ok1YE2U9jtVHLt7YoxPRtU1UVXevxsW2tocB3EM/s320/2010-07-19+23.51.09.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Advertising the shindig. </div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaY8Hy6wuKhEfuFNa9H8a_SVMUdssYLADxQCWTFP-yzAQJnFxryvbUPRW7RhpXjsRfhopUquGXfw5kQDZjblLhdtVqlIUqewoMnlUIWDOJ1yAX-MTW2YlN03x_TXaxFXmwMUabgsFhXRKQ/s1600/2010-07-19+23.48.26.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496073790901421746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaY8Hy6wuKhEfuFNa9H8a_SVMUdssYLADxQCWTFP-yzAQJnFxryvbUPRW7RhpXjsRfhopUquGXfw5kQDZjblLhdtVqlIUqewoMnlUIWDOJ1yAX-MTW2YlN03x_TXaxFXmwMUabgsFhXRKQ/s320/2010-07-19+23.48.26.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 239px;" /></a>It wouldn't be a comic book party without someone in costume!<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJsF6LeKy1gf8v_R8op_2UmfqMMcb_3i-8DnMW-ZJ70xzQ5Lpk8yWTw-ES6C0E5nc44PrdSp9BP1Nb7rjYxlghQCSDEjjdwJZNCKquNwvaQYyc3TRS2k-ludiZ8nV6sLgnFhsS65ftnCh/s1600/2010-07-19+23.52.46.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496074328912971378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJsF6LeKy1gf8v_R8op_2UmfqMMcb_3i-8DnMW-ZJ70xzQ5Lpk8yWTw-ES6C0E5nc44PrdSp9BP1Nb7rjYxlghQCSDEjjdwJZNCKquNwvaQYyc3TRS2k-ludiZ8nV6sLgnFhsS65ftnCh/s320/2010-07-19+23.52.46.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Giving away miniposters and a chance to win an advanced screening ticket!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqzy93yjAFqwMGIny_juWmh8MtMvg-YZ3Duew2tfPnsRw9-rzzfN7cHge-uPcGEPGYMXPkVR6OYG5Fm-_iAPgmjqbTUn9RsTBrLUMar3EW_OOfLWgeL7BZsYy3XBMifDddKLsV-x6NeA1/s1600/2010-07-20_00.00.25.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496075066709118258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqzy93yjAFqwMGIny_juWmh8MtMvg-YZ3Duew2tfPnsRw9-rzzfN7cHge-uPcGEPGYMXPkVR6OYG5Fm-_iAPgmjqbTUn9RsTBrLUMar3EW_OOfLWgeL7BZsYy3XBMifDddKLsV-x6NeA1/s320/2010-07-20_00.00.25.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Look who's first in line!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEgw8YLyHQlUJM8hPf7iB_jLr80uIGunA7VNRJtbyAu4e5GA_-6pB-QLgPClj8LN5oDmYU6Ed-byTBAjFKCTTfLENOs8CMsgbuA_R9sZ2JrBENcPcENRU9wumcLbAeP129fwmP5JQAA5z/s1600/2010-07-20_00.00.51.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496075524468396994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEgw8YLyHQlUJM8hPf7iB_jLr80uIGunA7VNRJtbyAu4e5GA_-6pB-QLgPClj8LN5oDmYU6Ed-byTBAjFKCTTfLENOs8CMsgbuA_R9sZ2JrBENcPcENRU9wumcLbAeP129fwmP5JQAA5z/s320/2010-07-20_00.00.51.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 239px;" /></a>The end of the line, at the back of the store.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDD_D_IrBDqJWSdTcPnyS4ZUrPmBDAf84qrrCuzSaQbS-0Ot1w1qWAEy0adXdDd6ZOdkqqO0T1mv2UyOPPaoMV-iyZi3-ylmV629QCp6ZzR4cPkUcSHgUIf48EQwbLba6PG616Wv4k8ZQ/s1600/2010-07-20_00.13.47.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496076230226186466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDD_D_IrBDqJWSdTcPnyS4ZUrPmBDAf84qrrCuzSaQbS-0Ot1w1qWAEy0adXdDd6ZOdkqqO0T1mv2UyOPPaoMV-iyZi3-ylmV629QCp6ZzR4cPkUcSHgUIf48EQwbLba6PG616Wv4k8ZQ/s320/2010-07-20_00.13.47.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 239px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>But they eventually made it to the front!<br />
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And of course... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdXGwqCYKxBHWO_YxuIOHgQDY0eMmVYx4PG8B1f1yfQqoYwUcJjHOKeyeIhNiezwx17FOUOJ9b076I61ltXHN4AG_gk9M04jJvbUw3jA7Y8gOxr7jpclFflMj3qGkPtUSCxOKsa8bLQyp/s1600/SP6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496076662399721426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdXGwqCYKxBHWO_YxuIOHgQDY0eMmVYx4PG8B1f1yfQqoYwUcJjHOKeyeIhNiezwx17FOUOJ9b076I61ltXHN4AG_gk9M04jJvbUw3jA7Y8gOxr7jpclFflMj3qGkPtUSCxOKsa8bLQyp/s320/SP6.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a>A thing of beauty. </div></div>If you're curious, I will be reviewing the first Scott Pilgrim book soon enough!Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565165007095630125.post-42038505189085580992010-07-20T11:12:00.000-07:002010-07-27T18:29:47.183-07:00Our ManifestoComics. Graphic novels. Whatever you call them. You can't go anywhere these days without hearing about them. It seems like every other movie is based on one, and your librarian always tries to suggest them. You're curious, but you're also confused. Part of you can't help but think that they're not <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> books. And you have no idea where to start. That's where I come in.<br />
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I remember being 16, dancing on the edge of the pool of comicsdom, wondering how or if I should jump in. And when I eventually did, it was loud and messy and it took me a long time to learn to navigate those waters. So I've decided to take my hard-earned lessons and love and pass them on to the world.<br />
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Some of you may still not be convinced that comics are even worth your time. Now, you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't up for having your mind changed, but you're skeptical and need to be convinced. That's cool. I can work with that.<br />
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Take a moment to think about your favorite movies. Now, take a moment to think about your favorite books. Next, take a moment to think of your favorite TV shows. Think about how all of them make you feel, why you love them so much, your favorite characters, your favorite lines, your favorite stories. Now, take out your favorite movies. You never watched them. In fact, you've never watched any movies. Those stories that so enthralled you and the characters you loved were never a part of your life.<br />
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Hurts to think about, don't it?<br />
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Ok, you can have your favorite movies back now. Just in time, since one of your favorite books is going to be adapted into a movie. Hooray? Nah. Not really. After all, the book is always better than the movie. Sure, the filmmakers might do a great job translating the story to the screen, but some of your favorite moments will have to be cut, the actors won't be exactly as you imagined their characters, and the author's unique narrative voice will be gone. But you don't love your favorite movies and TV shows less than your favorite books-- you just love them differently. Each medium has its own unique tools to work with that contributes to why you love them.<br />
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It's the same with comics. Comics bring something different to the table than prose or film or television, but they have the same capacity to captivate you as any other medium. And if you're a person who loves <span style="font-style: italic;">stories</span>, can you really live with yourself knowing that there's a whole <span style="font-style: italic;">medium</span> out there that you're unfamiliar with?<br />
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Welcome to Oh YA! Comics.Oh YA! Comicshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912018938265398658noreply@blogger.com0