comickal: random linkage

COUNTDOWN: DC unleashes its next weekly comic event...
[...] [WIZARD] And we’ve heard that Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner and Jason Todd all play a role?

DINI: Right, and in the back of all this there are big secrets brewing, secret armies and ultimate disasters and betrayals in the works. I think the way it starts off is not going to be exactly how it finishes up, but once all the pieces are together, like a huge puzzle, the people will go “Oh, of course. It couldn’t have ended any other way.”

...Wait. Jason Todd is coming back to life AGAIN? Is he back already in 52? Jeez, poor Bruce. For that matter, poor Jason. How many times does the guy have to be killed before he just stays dead? (Of course, he might not be alive again. He might be the Spectre's sidekick!)

The Ormes Society
The Ormes Society, named after the legendary pioneering cartoonist of color Jackie Ormes, is an organization dedicated to supporting black female comic creators and promoting the inclusion of black women in the comics industry as creators, characters and consumers....

A beautiful manifesto:

BeaucoupKevin(dot)com. BlogMachineGo.:It's OK to walk away from books you're not enjoying. Nobody will get their feelings hurt and by freeing up the money, maybe you can invest in a title you do enjoy. So what if you've been reading Uncanny X-Men since 1986 - if you're not enjoying it, then stop paying for it. Your dollar is the most powerful voting tool you have for editorial change at Marvel and DC. You wonder why things never change while spending your money on the same crap week after week, month after month, year after year. If you don't like something, you don't have to - and you shouldn't - buy it. I encourage you to think about what you spend your money on and value your time more than your collection. If you're thinking too many comics are being written for the trade paperback, then wait for the trade. Don't buy monthly issues that don't give you enough content - I'm pretty sure that Ultimate Spider-Man is going to get published without your $2.99 and it'll be much better when you get to read it in a large chunk. [...] I'm going to put it plainly: you're killing the superhero comic because of your idiotic devotion. I can't say that I necessarily think of that as a bad thing, with the business being in the state it's in. I know that I've already got six decades of superhero stories to read at my leisure. I don't need any more JSA stories to come out, just like I don't need any more Thin Man movies....

For what it's worth, the only superhero stuff I buy in pamphlets is/was All Star Superman, Invincible, the late lamented Nextwave, NewUniversal and the Virgin titles. Invincible and Nextwave just because, and the Virgin titles because they've shown no signs of having a plan for going to trades and Virgin uses stiffer stock for their covers and pages, so they endure slightly better. NewUniversal ... well. I mostly like the story so far, but the Hollywood art-casting of the parts by the artist kind of throws me every now and again. Plus I'm getting the impression that I'd probably enjoy it better as one big thing, the way I did with Daughters of the Dragon. Assuming it comes out within my lifetime, I might pick up an issue or two of All Star Wonder Woman, just to see.

(Purely a side note: the idea of someone remaking the Thin Man movies fills me with utter horror.)

Flashback Universe

Oooooh ... complete(ish) freely downloadable comics. On purpose!

UVC Magazine: the urban voice of comics

It'll be interesting to see what this grows up to be. (Though, just for the record, may I say: I hate the conflation of urban and Black. Hate hate HATE it. First, it's a formulation that implies that all black people live in cities, which is simply not true; it also implies that cities are mostly black, which, with a very few exceptions, is also not true. I get the euphemism, I understand the reasoning, I'm not going on a one man campaign to wipe out the word. I just hate it's use this way, that's all. If you mean "Black", then why not just say so? If you truly mean "urban" -- as in metropolitan, cosmopolitan, a true diversity of voices from the city and not just Black or white or anything in particular -- then I will abide.)