Sunday, June 21, 2009

New links I should have put up long ago

From time to time I like to look for my blog in the search engines. Not only because of vanity but to see who links to my blog.


Or who mentions it. Which is only recommended because while you may know the people you contacted or got in touch with and who you know to have a link to your blog - there may be people out there who mention your blog or even link to your blog without your knowledge. And some of them are so selfless they don´t even tell you that. So I like to surf the net to see if my blog appears somewhere I´m not aware of.

One such website that mentions my blog is BOOKSTEVE´S LIBRARY but I haven´t had time to really read the blog so I can´t tell you what it´s all about. In any case here´s the link :

  • post about my blog on booksteve´s library


  • I found some other websites on this search website called Technorati :

  • my blog on technorati


  • Some of them I already knew because they are link partners like GREAT CEASAR´S POST or BOB MITCHELL IN THE21ST CENTURY. And I wasn´t surprised that MATCHING DRAGOONS came up since I did a post about Jonah Hex in which I put a link to the site.


    So I knew that there was the "The number one Jonah Hex fansite" quote in the " They at last read me " section of the blog. What I didn´t know is that there´s a link to my blog right next to it as well as a link in his link section. Hell, he even did a short post about my blog.

  • matching dragoons´ post about my blog


  • Tales From the Kryptonian is a new addition to the comic book links section. From Germany, he covers both DC & Marvel and has some pretty interesting insight on the different books and the teams contained therein.

    Swing by, tell him howdy, and if ya like him, toss him a link.


    Now if that´s not enough to get on my link section I don´t know what is. So there´s now a permanent link to MATCHING DRAGOONS ( aptly named after Jonah Hex´ weapons of choice a matching pair of Colt Dragoons ) not only the number one Jonah Hex fansite but the number one resource page - period - about Jonah Hex.


    It has like hundreds of posts about why Jonah Hex is the meanest SOB who ever lived and if you don´t believe me just read the entry about how Jonah Hex manages to shoot a guy while being dead, stuffed an mounted on a pedestrial.

  • hardcore jonah hex


  • The blog has also a complete list of Jonah Hex´injuries and a bodycount feature ( currently : Jonah Hex - 407, Scalphunter - 5 ). Here is the link to the main site, go check it out I´m sure you´ll like it. And if you do drop Dwayne, the canoe guy a comment and tell him SUBZERO sent you :

  • matching dragoons


  • Another blog that has a link to my blog but I didn´t link back to is RANDOM HAPPENSTANCE. A few months ago I wrote a comment on his blog about doing a link exchange but I totally forgot to leave my e - mail address or to click the notifier button in the comment section. So I was totally oblivious that he had taken me up on my offer and he probably must have been thinking : " that guy never linked back to me. What a gyp ! " No, sorry, I just totally forgot. Mea culpa. I have also put it in the permanent link section so I hope he can forgive me.


  • random happenstance


  • This search engine called Read Wire comes up with a few of my posts for the search terms " dead " and " girl " since I mentioned the Marvel character Dead Girl in a few of my posts. It doesn´t link directly to my blog, rather they show my posts in a page with their own layout. But there IS a link to my blog on the top of the page so I don´t really mind.

  • my posts which mention dead girl


  • On another search engine called Big Devil my blog appears when you search for the words " kryptonian " and " words ". Of course you can also find my blog if you just type in the words " kryptonian " and " tales ".

  • my blog on big devil


  • And for some strange reason my blog is cited as refering to I LOVE ROB LIEFELD and mentions " All Star Superman in 11 panels " which I linked on my blog on this site dossier to I LOVE ROB LIEFELD. Who knows how that´s connected ?


  • site dossier for i love rob liefeld


  • I have also looked for my own blog on this site. I still don´t understand all the info you get with this search but I´m not going to post the entry for my blog. I don´t want any hackers out there to sabotage my blog. It´s enough that my own computer is constantly working against me - as all the persons around me.

    So that was the rundown of the new websites where I got mentioned and to which I wanted to say thanks. And to all the websites that linked to me and I didn´t link back before now : Sorry guys.


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  • Friday, June 19, 2009

    Your next favorite superhero book

    Since I haven´t posted much the last few days I thought I could share a review I wrote for amazon.

    You may not know it but a few months ago I started to pimp my blog more seriously which also included becoming an amazon partner and putting order links on my blog. Now so far this hasn´t generated any income but today I got an e - mail from amazon asking me if I wanted to write a review about LOVE AND CAPES - DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET ? the first trade that collects issues 1 to 6.


    And boy did I ever especially since it´s going to be the first review. Since I read the thing I have wanted to pimp it on my blog but never got around to do it. So I wanted to use the opportunity that I have practically already written the review to get a cheap post. I know, I´m lazy - what else is new ?

    I used some of what I wrote for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY but since I´m quoting myself that´s not stealing. Anyway the review is going to be on the website in 48 hours but here it is for those who can´t wait that long :

    I discovered this series through issue 10 that was released as the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY that I ordered on a whim without any big expectations and which totally blew me away. Once you have started to read it you just want more so I had to get the first trade.


    Now there may be people out there who think they have seen it all when it comes to comics. And as somebody who reads comics for more than 30 years I know that the comics who bring a breath of fresh air into the superhero genre are few and far between. I mean there are hundreds of superhero books out there and dozens who offer a funny look at superheroes.....or think they are funny. So the whole idea behind LOVE AND CAPES - girl meets boy, boy turns out to be superboy, girl tries to deal with it - does not sound too original. The combination of romance with superhero with ordinary life is not really new but in this case it all meshes together so well it is astounding.

    You get the impression to read the comic to a hit tv comedy show that just has not aired yet and if there is any justice in the world it is only a matter of time till LOVE AND CAPES - THE MOVIE comes out. Thomas Zahler shows you things you have seen a hundred times in comics but by fastforwarding over the superhero battles we have seen so often and through adding Abbey, the normal person who comes into the strange world of alien invasions and secret hideouts, it is all new and exciting. While spinning a lovestory Thomas delivers comedy gold with perfectly timed punchlines that are the envy of every tv writer.


    The characters seem familiar right away probably because they are so believable and down to earth instead of the generic clones you find in most " hip " comics. And the art evokes a classic feeling that makes it timeless with a deco look and classic lines. At first glance it looks deceptively simplistic but Mr. Zahler has more expression in a few lines than others with a dozens of them.

    While it has some in - jokes and some hilarious stuff it also has quiet character moments and there is a really touching romance beneath it. A bittersweet superhero love story that everybody should read.

    This trade includes he first six issues and tells the story of Abbey who just finds out that her boyfriend Mark is also the Caped Crusader, the defender of Deco City. If you think having a relationship is hard try adding superpowers, tell - it - all books written by super exgirlfriends and what to wear for a dinner invitation to Atlantis. Someone said that with great powers comes great responsibility but in this book love conquers all.

    Love and Capes : I allow it !



    The usual link roll :

  • review at blogcritics


  • review for issue 1 at comics worth reading


  • review for issue 2 at comics worth reading


  • review for the trade at evertime realms



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  • I´ve raced you before, Barry. I even won some of those races.

    Those were for charity, Clark.

    Monday, June 08, 2009

    Hulk 12 printing error

    I have always seen this blog as half my own personal playground and half a public service. So I wanted to use this space to announce that there were some misprinted pages in issue 12 of Hulk.


    With a price tag of 3.99 you should expect that MARVEL would be a little more concerned about the quality. Well, last week I was at the comic shop where I got issue 12 of the Hulk but since I hadn´t read issue 11 yet I didn´t flip through the pages. So I just discovered it at home and will now have to bring the copy back to the comic shop to see if they have another copy withoout the printing errors.

    So for all comic readers : you should check out your copy if it´s okay. And for all dealers : you might want to do the same. I have no idea if the issues are returnable but that´s just not right for 3.99.

    And since this post is not only to bitch here are the pages that were misprinted for all the comicfans out there who want to know what´s going on there.



    So these are the pages that couldn´t be read in my issue. Since I don´t want to upload the whole issue ( I´m at the limit for pictures as it is ) I´m making an exception to my " no download links " rule. You can get the issue as a pdf file right here :

  • hulk 12


  • update : I´ve been to my comicshop and all the copies they had left, regular editions as well as the variants, had the same printing error. I have called blackdog and it seems their copies are fine. So it seems it were just a few that the Sammlerecke got. Still sucks if you got one of the defectuous issues.

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  • Thursday, June 04, 2009

    A Comicbook Orange : Season 3 and other comic news

    It´s been longer than expected since my last post but before we jump into Power Girl´s magical cleavage window - even if only metaphorical - some news and other things I wanted to mention have accumulated. So it´s once again time for one of these long comic news posts.

    A Comicbook Orange : Season 3


    First and most important is of course that the third season of A Comicbook Orange is finally online with the first episode that covers Grant Morrison´s SEAGUY and has an interview with Ben Templesmith of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT fame. I´m a bit behind schedule with the announcement because the new episode went online Yesterday but my internet connection was malfunctioning again and quite frankly I kind of forgot. Mea Culpa.

    I already wrote about their relaunch with their own website on the 4th of last month and I wanted to do an update when the new episodes are online. Anyway, better late than never. Now there may still people out there who don´t know what A Comicbook Orange is so here´s what I wrote in my first post about it .

    A COMICBOOK ORANGE is what every comicblogger whishes he was doing. It´s a video comic review blog that´s funny, entertaining and has a decent hit and miss quota in it´s reviews. Each episode has at least three different reviews and they also do convention interviews and all the usual stuff. There is always this argument that shows on tv about comics don´t work. The pictures are too static, it´s impossible to do it in a funny way and the target audience is too narrow. Well, thankfully somebody forgot to tell the guys from A COMICBOOK ORANGE all that.


    The format has changed a bit since it´s going to be one review and one interview from now on to avoid the burnout syndrome. I know I prefer a shorter show if it helps to ensure a regular schedule. So enjoy the episodes ( new and old ) and support them because we really need more guys ( and gals of course ) like them in the bloggoverse.

    One last thing I somehow totally forgot. There are two ways to get on my permanent link list. The first one is via a link exchange by an invitaion from me or an invitation I get from somebody else. So far I had the luck to find some noble souls who were gracious enough to do this. The second one is as kind of an award for sheer excellence sometimes known as " freebie ". Which means that your website is so cool that I don´t care if you link back to me. I just want to share it with as many people out there as possible.

    Way back when I did my first post mentioning A Comicbook Orange I wanted to add them to the link list but as they didn´t have their own website I couldn´t do it. Well, now they have it but I forgot it. Again, sorry. So here´s the link again and it is now also on the link list :

  • a comicbook orange



  • DRAW ! magazine - the blog

    DRAW ! magazine has now joined the ranks of internet bloggers with a new blog that has two entries so far, one about Mitch Breitweiser´s cover for issue 19 and one with an interview with Hellboy BRPD´s Guy Davis.

    The purpose of the blog is to bridge the generous amounts of time between issues and to be more interactive with the fans. Of course it shouldn´t be necessary to explain what DRAW ! magazine is since it´s one of the biggest resources and must read magazines for comic pros, comic afficionados and comic fans alike. Publisher is Mike Manley, artist, cartoonist and editor of Draw! magazine. " I work in animation and the comics industries, I also teach animation, drawing and storyboarding at Uarts and DCAD. I am now back in school at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art to school to finish my MFA in painting. I create art as a compulsion, it is my religion. "

  • draw magazine the blog


  • guy davis interview



  • Tales from the Convention

    Because I still havn´t fully recovered I missed the comicfair in Stuttgart which apparently took place last Saturday. This bugged me not so much because of the comics since the last times there have been less and less american comics to buy. But it´s one of the few opportunities for the comic scene of Stuttgart to meet. And since I´m probably not going to attend the Comicfest in Munich that´s usually my only chance to meet my old homies like Geier and buy some german hardcover editions which are just too expensive if you can´t get them halfprice.

    It looks like I won´t be attending any comic conventions this year since I also couldn´t visit the 27th comic convention of Barcelona which just ended this Monday. Which might be a blessing in disguise if you keep in mind what a catastrophic experience I has during my last visit. Who knows, it may even be possible that I find the time to post the last part of my convention diary from last year.


    But back to this year´s convention here are some convention diaries by comic pros. One is a short blog entry by Mark Waid the other two are by Todd Nauck and analyze the differences between american conventions and spanisch conventions - with lots of pictures. Since you usually get the reports about european conventions from a european - me - I found them pretty interesting since somebody like Todd Nauck has a different viewpoint which might be more familiar to my readers from the USA. By the way, Capitan Trueno means Captain Thunder.

  • todd nauck barcelona 1


  • todd nauck barcelona 2


  • mark waid barcelona


  • The 3.99 price again

    Well, I thought that the topic of the increase of the price for comics was done but of course we haven´t heard the last of it. I fear it will be a current issue - so to speak - for months to come and we still don´t know what the ultimate ramifications are going to be. In a recent article from ROBOT 6 it seems that Marvel´s decision for the price increase was more about maximizing profits and not so much connected with rising production costs.


    Which doesn´t surprise me as much as it should. In the article the main focus is on already existing books that have the new price tag and when you look at it that way the difference is not so great. The thing is that all new books and all relaunched books are also now carrying the new price and to get a impression how many new series Marvel is throwing at the readers you just have to take a look at the solicitations. The first books are all 3.99 and if you scroll down it takes a while before the fisrt 2.99 book appears.

    In the article it is emphasized that Marvel has only increased the price on already existing books for the bestsellers because they know they can carry the new price. They prefered this option to the alternative of raising prices on low selling books which could have meant cancellation for said titles. Now at first that seems like Marvel doing their readers a favor. But when you look at it from the business perspective it only makes sense.

    If you increase the prices on low selling books the difference in the profit you make is going to be very low because of the low sales numbers and you might have to end the title. That way you could loose the whole as a source for income. On the other hand your bestsellers are going to sell no matter what. They can carry the bigger price tag and the profit increase is going to be much bigger. And you still can keep the lower selling titles for those who are fans of it or can´t pay 3.99.


    That way you could even increase readership on your lower selling titles. The only problem is that a book like HULK for example can only carry the new price tag as long as Ed McGuiness manages to stay on board or you can find a suitable substitute like Frank Cho or Arthur Adams. The minute you have a second - or third - rate artist on the book you can see the sales numbers melt.

    It really sems that there are people in the comic business who can´t see that in times of global recession comics have to become cheaper not more expensive. In any case I don´t see people expanding their pull list in the near future as I myself will have to downsize my reading list dramatically. Thank god there are companies like DC who try their best to keep books at 2.99 while giving the reader more content on the 3.99 books.

  • marvel´s price increase


  • Back to the issue

    Staying on the topic of the price increase James Hunt over at Den of Geek is also writing about the problems connected to superhero comics and comes to some conclusions that I also presented right here. First off readers have to stop buying comics they are not satisfied with. Otherwise comic companies will continue to publish crappy comics. And secondly if you are not happy with reading current comics you might want to try back issues.


    The advantages are that you often have better creative teams, you don´t have to suffered decompressed storytelling, the storytelling is much more important than it has become now and you already know which issues to buy and which to avoid and of course they are cheaper. For years comic dealers like Chuck Rozanski from MILE HIGH COMICS have said that the segment of back issues is growing and with the way comics are right now this trend is not going to end soon.

  • buying back issues


  • Top ten and other lists

    To avoid ending on a negative note here are some fun links. The first one is from Comic Monsters and is a list of horror webcomics. I haven´t had the time to really dive into it but as a fan of horror comics I´m definitely going to check it out.

  • horror webcomics


  • Over at POP Jeffrey Klaehn has a list of " Top Ten Coolest Magical Comic Characters " even if I wish he had put up a bit of commentary to the entries and why he chose them. For a widely published author and cultural commentator he sure didn´t comment much on this post.

  • top ten magic users



  • And last but not least Kleefeld on Comics has a pop quiz about lightning logos.

  • lightning logos pop quiz


  • That ends the comic news for this round and I don´t know if we will finally be able to focus on Power Girl´s boobs in the next post or go for another helping of comic news.

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