Housecleaning, While No-One’s Around On The Weekend

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on April 10, 2010

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Because you demanded it, literally: Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug, The Fountain and Stagger Lee are all on order from the Multnomah Library. In case you all thought I’d forgotten. In not-really-related news, next Claremont X-Men post will go up early next week, probably after a post where I respond to and disagree with all of you pretending that the Romita run wasn’t awesome. Oh, and I promise, there’s a Wait, What coming up. And, to answer Tim Callahan, Lauren Davis and others, either Jeff and I will fix that fact that we accidentally lost all the old ones when we moved servers. Now, go about your business while I go off and do taxes. Pray for me.

Favorites: Blankets, plus a Tori Amos video

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Posted by: Sean T. Collins on March 2, 2010

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[This is a reconstructed post from Google Cache; originally posted by Sean!] Greetings, fans of savagery! Been a long time since I posted here, and I’m barely doing so now, even. I just wanted to direct your attention to an interview I did with Tom Spurgeon as part of The Comics Reporter’s holiday interview series on the Books of the ’00s. Mine was about Craig Thompson’s Blankets, a book I’d eventually have gotten around to writing about for my Favorites series here at SC. So if that’s the sort of thing you’re interested in, check it out. On a semi-related note, here’s Tori Amos performing her song “Bells for Her” in 1994 — it’s both my favorite Tori Amos song…  Read More…

Enter, Stage Left, on Coattails: Jeff Ponders Our Great Decade

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on January 3, 2010

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One of the things I do that I don’t like very much, is I get inspired by something someone’s written here and jump on with my own comments, thus potentially obscuring the original point made. I did this with Abhay once and it kinda bugged me, so here I am doing it again–with Abhay, again–and therefore I think I should start this whole thing off with an apology to him. I do this only, I think, because his writing inspires me into dialogue. (Or to try and ride his coattails, if you want to be less charitable about it.) At the end of his really superb essay, Abhay writes: I wasn’t very happy in 2009 anyways.  Apparently, I’m not completely…  Read More…

Douglas looks forward to 2010

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Posted by: Douglas Wolk on December 31, 2009

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I’m putting together a list of interesting-looking comics-related books that are coming out in 2010–what I’ve got so far is under the cut. Note that this is only book-format projects (so e.g. no “Joe the Barbarian,” which reminds me: whatever happened to “Warcop” anyway?), and only things whose release dates have been announced either by the publishers or Amazon. Everything, as usual, is subject to change. I welcome additional suggestions for this list from anyone who doesn’t work for the creators or publishers of the things you’re suggesting. January: Eddie Campbell: Alec: The Years Have Pants (Top Shelf) Jan. 12: Dash Shaw: The Unclothed Man In the 35th Century A.D. (Fantagraphics) Jan. 29: George Herriman: Krazy & Ignatz in “Tiger…  Read More…

While We Wait For Me To Get My Act Together…

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on August 23, 2009

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Not an official review post – Those’re coming later this week, now that I’ve finished writing Ono for this month – but if you’re looking for some Hot Comic Reviewin’ Action, go check out Chad Nevett’s heroic 24-hour Blogathon effort from yesterday/this morning, taking a look at Bendis’ Avengers and surrounding books. I don’t always agree – and in some cases, very much disagree, with what he says, but it’s well worth checking out.

A Perfect Holiday: Jeff Pulls a Bait & Linkdump.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on May 4, 2009

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Ooo, so far behind. On my comics reading, on my comics Internet reading, on my writing, you name it. But! I did think I’d pass along two links that made my morning a little merrier. They’re behind the link, just because the images might be big enough to screw up the template… I’m sure you already know–and have known since February–that Paul Grist has been serializing his Eternal Warrior comic online. I found out about over the weekend thanks to an old post on Shane Oakley’s blog. There’s about 28 pages there, which puts some meat on its bones, and it’s fun looking at Grist take Moorcock ideas and Barry Windsor-Smith visuals and make them his own. And, of course,…  Read More…

What doesn’t make the cut

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on January 6, 2009

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I’m nearly done with organizing my year-end figures for the accountant (should be done next week, I think), and I’m prepping to sit down with the 2008 BookScan numbers as soon as I get my hands on them. So I figure I’m still… 2 weeks? from doing regular review posting again. I’ve just paid the Critics for the last six months of advertising (thanks for clicking through to our advertisers!), as well as the direct donations since June (Thank you to Evan D, Steven D, Ralph M, and Sandy M!), and everyone gets a cheeseburger! If you like what you read here, that’s always a great way to show your support. Just sayin’. But, I thought I should post something…  Read More…

I don’t know how to title this one!

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on December 9, 2008

Categories: Reviews , Uncategorized

I meant to say something last week (ugh, or was it two weeks now) when Spurgeon linked to Johanna’s (we miss you!) note about the pending release of the last color BONE volume. I volunteer at Ben’s school library one day a week (what can I say… I believe in libraries!), and, man, do the comics circulate like crazy! I’m only in there one day a week, but based on looking at the shelves I think it is true for every day in there — the comics circulate the INSTANT they get put back out on the shelves. My responsibilities include checking in each classes books, as well as checking the kids out each week (basically, it’s just retail, but…  Read More…

Oh Disneyland, my Disneyland

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on October 21, 2008

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It’s a field trip report for those of you who care about such things… find it under the jump… (with some cute pics, as well!) It was just Ben’s birthday, and is my wont, I took him for a trip. Theoretically, these are “father/son” trips, but this year Ben wanted Mama to come along as well, and since it’s HIS birthday, we went along with his plan. Like last year, we headed south for Disneyland (but I’m not set on this being a Disney trip every year… taking ideas for next year already, folks!), but because Mama was with us, we made it a little more of a production number than last year. Last year it was a “day trip”…  Read More…

Hibbs’ thought of the day

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on October 2, 2008

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I think one of the reasons the economy is in trouble is because banks have started calling themselves “stores”, while the financial instruments they facilitate are called “products”. -B

Hibbs’ thought for the day

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on September 18, 2008

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It’s said that this week’s ACTION and DCU: DECISIONS were also pulped because of some sort of other problem — ACTION for showing Clark drinking beer on the cover. His bottle is now very glaringly labeled “SODA POP”. You just know that Pa Kent has a moonshine still… But DCU: DECISIONS is even weirder for me — apparently it was to “de-Condi” one of the candidates, but between solicitation and publication, the cover suddenly now has a piece of graffiti on a wall that says “Heroes don’t vote!” which, to me, is like 10,000 times worse than Clark drinking a brew, or Condi in the DCU. To me, I read it as “Hey kids, be a hero: Don’t vote!” *brrr*…  Read More…

Diana’s 50 Favorite Moments In Comics

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on September 4, 2008

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Because all the cool kids are doing it! In no particular order, my 50 favorite moments in comics: 1. SWAMP THING #56, “My Blue Heaven”: Stranded on a distant planet, the Swamp Thing recreates his hometown and is content to live an empty fantasy until a replica of John Constantine starts voicing some inconvenient truths. It’s even creepier when you realize that every character on the Blue Planet is really just Swamp Thing throwing his voice. 2. BOX OFFICE POISON: Towards the end of the book, Hildy tells Ed about her little sister Marlys. It turns out the reader has already met Marlys in an earlier, seemingly-unrelated part of the story… a part that becomes incredibly tragic once the missing…  Read More…

Tuesday-Type Content: 50 Things Jeff Likes About Comics.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on August 26, 2008

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I really liked David Brothers’ ’50 Things I Like’ list he did recently over on 4th Letter, as well as some of the lists he reprinted and linked to as a result. And last time I saw him, David said, as we parted, “hey, you should do a list.” Somehow that led to me not being able to sleep past 6 AM on a Sunday morning as I sorted and re-sorted the little sublists I’d do. Anyway, post-jump: 50 things I like about comics, with hopefully just the right amount of commentary. 5 Great “Eras” for Publishers DC in the late ’50s, early ’60s: A legacy that’s like the pyramids in Egypt–lovely to look at, but I’m damn glad I…  Read More…

Reminder: Garage Sale is Today

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on August 16, 2008

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You can also consider this post a reminder that I still have no idea how to use a flash: These and other fine books, only a quarter each. (I should mention I’ve got a box full of old Comics Journals, and I’m letting those go for only fifty cents each.) I’m on Cortland Avenue between Andover and Moultrie, 94110 (although this isn’t the address use 515 Cortland to get a close enough fix on my location). We’re going to be near the rubble of the old library, and next to the storage containmnent cube. Yes, it’s a garage sale, Armagetto-style! And I hope you can turn out. We’ll be there from 9 to 4. See you there!  

Time for the Garage Sale: Jeff Talks Prep and Pleads

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on August 14, 2008

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As always, my timing sucks because I’m so happy Graeme’s got a post up that I hate the idea someone might miss it with all the following hoo-ha I’m about to throw your way. So please make sure to see Graeme’s post below! Thank you. So it’s time for the annual hillwide garage sale in Bernal Heights this Saturday: that means people all over the hill will be having sales in front of their homes and apartments. And it means that, once again, I will be out on Cortland Avenue with a table, a bunch of long boxes, and some embarrassingly low prices: after much consideration, I’ve decided to hold my prices to a quarter a book. Google maps is…  Read More…

WE’RE LIVING IN A CIVILIZATION!!!!

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on June 11, 2008

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To quote George Constanza and all that. It’s really hot in San Francisco this week, kind of unseasonably so. Sure, I understand that it isn’t as gross and hot as it is on the EAST coast, but still. Public transportation is even more grueling in High Heat. With gas prices rising rapidly, more and more people are turning to (or at least considering) public transportation. I, myself, have always been a bus guy. I don’t know how to drive, and while our family has a car (preschooler, kinda have to), I still buy a monthly bus pass every month, and try to use the bus as much as humanly possible. I don’t know if it is just that no one…  Read More…

The Inventory #1: Jeff Considers Immortal Iron Fist #10-14

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on May 23, 2008

Categories: Reviews , Uncategorized

From time to time, it’s been suggested in our comments that we post follow-up reviews of story arcs after reviewing them in issue-by-issue fashion for so long, as a way to see whether or not the whole thing came out in the wash. The Inventory doesn’t quite do that but it’s close: I’m so far behind on my non-manga reading that I thought I might review a batch of purchased issues of a single title at one go and see how they shape up. First up, The Immortal Iron Fist #10-#14, plus The Immortal Iron Fist annual. As you may remember, I’ve been a fan of Iron Fist from way, way back (like back when Claremont and Byrne first worked…  Read More…

NYCC: The Dream

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on April 19, 2008

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One of the big downsides of being sick is that you sleep a lot, but you’re not really sleeping WELL — tossing and turning all night long, waking up in pain, and the latest one, now that the antibiotics have started to work, the pain in the tonsils has switched to a sinus drip in the back of the throat, so that sleeping at night is sort of like being slowly waterboarded in your sleep. Joy. But, last night I finally had like 6 solid hours of REM sleep, and what do you know I dream about a comics convention. Actually, it was more like New York City itself had been turned INTO a giant comics convention, because my dream…  Read More…

Tonsillitis

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on April 18, 2008

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Tuesday, while I was in the middle of pulling the comics, I started to get chills, then fever, then chills again, and I was feeling very logy. When I got home Tuesday night, I passed out for nearly 24 hours. On Wednesday, the searing throat pain began, and the only reason I didn’t sleep continuously for the next 24 hours was that pain. Thursday I finally went to a doctor — Tonsillitis is the verdict and anti-biotics should knock it back fairly soon, but if you wonder why I’ve been completely silent here (and only writing Priority One emails), its because I feel like someone stuck a rusty dagger in my mouth, and really all I want to do is…  Read More…

Almost On-Topic: Jeff Talks Briefly About Morpheus, Obama, and Politics.

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Posted by: Jeff Lester on March 3, 2008

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The only letter I ever had published in a comic book was in Transmetropolitan. I don’t remember the issue but I’m pretty sure it’s issue #16, above–this cover of Spider as The Statue of Liberty rings some bells. Somewhere, Ellis had written about the ’92 election race that was currently underway, and posited a pretty good theory about who gets to be President. (As I recall, the theory is basically, “Whoever wants it the most, gets it.” Clinton, Ellis pointed out, wanted the Presidency in a way Bush I didn’t. I wrote back a response suggesting that, in fact, what we were seeing from Bush was petulance–the speed with which we devoured news media had changed, and what had been…  Read More…

Did I just say "Wondercon"?

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on February 19, 2008

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Excuse me while I steal your attention for something that the San Franciscans or Wondercon-bound amongst you may feel interested in: Saturday night at 111 Minna. Be there or hate freedom. Co-sponsored by my other gig, so go and give them some web traffic as way of thanks.