Wait, What? Ep. 68.2: Startkicker

24 comments

Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 29, 2011

Categories: Podcasts

It’s the conclusion of Episode 68 and our last episode for 2011! (Hopefully, it was be as carefree and as easy to find and listen to as part one was an epic tragedy.) Join Graeme McMillan and me on a speedy 75 minute tour of the highlights and lowlands of the year (of which the former is the career of Kate Beaton, whose book is represented above, and of which the latter is the career of, oh, I dunno, me, probably). The Kirby trial outcome! The layoffs at Marvel! Superhero movies! Kickstarter! Watchmen 2! Feigned excitement! And much, much more, of course. I pray to god the miserable son of a bitch is on iTunes but if not, you can…  Read More…

Wait, What? Ep. 68.1: Grist for the Mill(ar)

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 27, 2011

Categories: Podcasts

This one had the best of intentions but somehow ended up being more of the accident-at-the-mousetrap-factory variety. Graeme and I started with the idea of doing a year in review podcast and it morphed, as our conversations usually do, into a verbal catalogue of compulsion and fixation. Oh sure, we start covering events from 2011 like DC’s New 52, day and date digital, but ends up being more about the paintings of Sharon Moody (erroneously called Shannon Moody by me for the whole damn podcast!), Christmas with the Swamp Thing and a long analysis of the year’s crossover events through the only lens that matters–that of Mark Millar. But my system crashes partway through the conversation (which you’ll be lucky…  Read More…

Arriving 12/29/11

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 26, 2011

Categories: Shipping Lists

The final ship week of the year, and it’s not a bad one! We do, however, have two ASSHATS OF THE WEEK, in this final shipping week — first is the loverly *four* different issues of 2000 AD that are shipping to America this week; seriously, I’d rather have a single SKU to have to process if you’re going to do that anyway, guys. The second goes to Marvel comics, and the *two* issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA (#5 & 6) shipping this week, AS WELL AS an issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA & BUCKY. Please please please please please stop making it harder to sell your comics, publishers!

Have A Good One, Everyone!

12 comments

Posted by: John Kane on December 24, 2011

Categories: Uncategorized

Season’s Greetings to one and all! Had a busy week what with all that festive malarkey and whatnot. Oh yeah, got you a “secret handshake” for Christmas, alright. Self indulgence beyond mortal comprehension follows after the break.

A Few Good Links

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 22, 2011

Categories: Retailing/Industry

Since it was so deep in a grown-tiresome thread, you probably missed this, but I loved loved loved Steve D’s post here.   Tom Spurgeon is back with another fabulous round of Holiday interviews, and while I don’t know how many people go here without going thee every day, I wanted to really point out the interview with The Beguiling’s Peter Birkemoe. It’s super rare to see in depth interviews with retailers, and I wish we had more such interviews and profiles. I used to (when it was still a monthly magazine) beg The Comics Journal to do a few interviews with pioneering retailers before it was too late and we lost that history to second hand stories. There are…  Read More…

Wait, What? 67.1 and .2: Krampus and Claus

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 21, 2011

Categories: Podcasts , Uncategorized

Image ganked from Graeme’s advent calendar at Blog@? Check. Episode 67.1, featuring Graeme and I pulling a World’s Finest-style caper and switching our traditional viewpoints to talk about Matt Fraction and Tom Brevoort’s interview on the Fear Itself aftermath issues?  Check! Wait, What? Ep. 67.1: Krampus Episode 67.2,  with us giving you a holiday gift guide covering collections, floppies, indie books and digital pics? Check. Wait, What? Ep. 67.2: Claus Although I usually wait until our podcasts hit iTunes before I create the SavCrit entries, I think this site is going to have Ep. 67 before iTunes does, for maybe as much as a day.  So we invite you to curl up around a nice fire and listen to us…  Read More…

Waiting For The End Of The World: Jeff Blows His Deadline

12 comments

Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 19, 2011

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey, Jeff here with just a quick note–the plan was to put both parts of Wait, What? up at once Tuesday morning since the two pieces are very different from one another. (Part One: Graeme and I losing our shit over Matt Fraction and Tom Breevort’s post-Fear Itself interview at Newsarama; Part Two: we pull our shit together and give you suggestions for a holiday gift list with 30+ items.) So, yeah. I kinda blew it for a number of utterly unsurprising reasons since it’s the week before Christmas. I apologize but will put both parts 1 and 2 up in one post early Wednesday afternoon… Just wanted to let you know.  Sorry, everyone!

Arriving 12/21/11

8 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on

Categories: Shipping Lists

Your last pre-Christmas shipment is packed full of comical goodness!

New Tilting is up

75 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 16, 2011

Categories: Retailing/Industry

Find it on CBR.   It must suck, since no one is commenting over there…. orrrrrrr I’m so insanely reasonable that everyone has been struck dumb! U decide!   -B

“They Gave Their Lives…Just For THAT?” Comics! Sometimes They “Dare To Be Different”!

5 comments

Posted by: John Kane on

Categories: Reviews

Old war comics written about by old man – pictures at Eleven!

Wait, What? Ep. 66: Winter Oner-Land

14 comments

Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 13, 2011

Categories: Podcasts

The image above ties into the podcast in only the most tangential of ways (we discuss Frank Springer for the merest of moments) but I had to include this image, in no small part because I’ve been enjoying Graeme’s Comics Advent Calendar over at Blog@ Newsarama so much. (And because…the Hatemonger for the Holidays?  May be even more topical now than when it was published…) So, anyhoo.  We had one of those podcasts where we only spoke for around ninety minutes and there wasn’t much of a place to cut it very neatly.  (I wasn’t crazy about doing an hour ten for part one, and thirty minutes for part two.) So this is a “oner” episode for you, with Mr….  Read More…

Arriving 12/14/2011

13 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 12, 2011

Categories: Shipping Lists

Now that’s a little more like a pre-Christmas shipping week, with both a new paperback volume of WALKING DEAD as well as one of FABLES.

“Now, Tanned, Rested, Ready And Fully Equipped With Brazilians…” Comics! Sometimes They Are Kind of New(ish)!

10 comments

Posted by: John Kane on December 9, 2011

Categories: Reviews

A couple of posts down from this rubbish there is a quite extraordinary thing occurring. People are discussing Digital comics and no one has been killed! It’s a Christmas miracle, by Jove! Why not go have a looksee, this rot isn’t going anywhere.

Wait, What? Ep. 65.2: A Podcast–With A Gun!

17 comments

Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 8, 2011

Categories: Podcasts

Yup, we came out of nowhere and rang your doorbell. We are a podcast–with a gun! Oh, and Mallomars. God yes, Mallomars. In this 90+ minute finale to ep. 65, Graeme McMillan and I talk a teeny-tiny bit more about Gerber’s Defenders, then go on to more of our standard W,W? stuff: Matt Fraction on Word Balloon, getting stalked on Twitter, the pros and cons of interviewing pros (sadly, not at cons because that would make a terrific little phrase, being trolled on Twitter, the required-by-Internet-law discussion of Watchmen 2, the price of satisfaction, and, you know, lots more. Statistically speaking, it is likely this fine installment is already available to you on iTunes. But, should you wish, it is…  Read More…

Questions I have about digital

93 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 7, 2011

Categories: Retailing/Industry , Uncategorized

I really like the general level of commentary over at the Beat, and there’s some very interesting stuff being said in the latest thread about Brian Wood’s new missive (which is, in itself a valuable read), but if one thing absolutely slays me about the Beat it is how fast stories scroll off the front page, and the commentary scroll with them. There’s no notification system there, so we’re kind of stuck with a day, or maybe two, of conversation before it scrolls off away into the ether.   This page is a little more forgiving in that regard, so let me try to put some thoughts here, and see if it sparks any kind of substantive conversation.

Wait, What? Ep. 65.1: I Think We’re All Bozos in this Podcast

14 comments

Posted by: Jeff Lester on December 6, 2011

Categories: Podcasts

Yup, and so we are back with Wait, What? which some of you might remember from the days of antiquity as a thing like unto a radio play, enacted by Mr. Graeme McMillan and myself for the amusement of listeners. Episode 65 was supposed to be a piercing search by the two of us for the more-than-two-of-you for the secrets to the considerable success of one Steve Gerber and his run on a Marvel series from the ’70s popularly known as The Defenders. I would like to say we were successful but, um, well, you will hear for yourselves. We do discuss it, mind you, but alas we also discuss Carrier IQ for the first batch of minutes, a big…  Read More…

Arriving 12/7/11

5 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 5, 2011

Categories: Shipping Lists

Beginning the last four shipping weeks of the year!

Hibbs & The Single 11/30 (part 2)

4 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 4, 2011

Categories: Reviews

OK, so not “Wednesday or Thursday”, but here’s the balance of the week…

Larkin About With The King (i.e. Stephen not Jack Kirby)

8 comments

Posted by: John Kane on December 3, 2011

Categories: Reviews

Sorry, I’ve been a bit light on the old comics reading front this week. I did read some books without pictures (they still make ‘em!) so rather than have everyone think I’d fallen off the face of the earth I thought I’d write about them instead. One of the books features this poor doomed b*stard who briefly starred in the John Byrne/Roger Stern 12 issue series MARVEL: THE LOST GENERATION in either #4 or #9 (it’s complicated): After all if I can’t give you bad reviews of comics I can at least give you bad reviews of books.

Abhay: HOMELAND DIRECTIVE

17 comments

Posted by: Abhay Khosla on December 2, 2011

Categories: Reviews

THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE by Robert Venditti, Mike Huddleston, Sean Konot, Chris Staros, and Jim Titus, published by Top Shelf Productions in 2011, copyright Robert Venditti but not Mike Huddleston.

Hibbs and the Single 11/30 (part one)

13 comments

Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 1, 2011

Categories: Reviews

Haven’t finished reading everything yet for the week, so this is just part one… but I’ll be pretty close to Old School Savage Critting, here…