Author: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

This author has written 2018 articles
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

"Driving Bigger Wedges in to Society"

I was going to sit this one out but it really does fall right into my wheelhouse...The unflappable Loren Javier has been hosting a handful of interesting debates over the past couple of weeks at his One Diverse Comic Book Nation blog -- which is showing promising signs of becoming exactly the kind of niche site I think the comics internet needs -- and I've jumped into a couple of them, partly because I appreciate the civil tone he sets, even when he's being unfairly attacked.After mixing it up with Gail Simone yesterday over The All New Atom, I finally…

Continue Reading"Driving Bigger Wedges in to Society"
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

On The Shelves: 1/31/07

Reading is fundamental. Don't waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 1/31/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com] PICK OF THE WEEK Why Are You Doing This?DC COMICS Batman And The Mad Monk #6 (Of 6), $3.50 Blue Beetle #11, $2.99 Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #7…

Continue ReadingOn The Shelves: 1/31/07
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Numbers Game: Shuffling Deck Chairs on the Titanic

Marc-Oliver Frisch's always enlightening sales analysis is now posted at The Beat, looking at DC's estimated numbers for December 2006, and buried towards the end is a very interesting breakdown of the Average Sales per Title of their three primary imprints. I've spotlighted the DCU as a point of interest:DC UNIVERSE12/2003: 29,26312/2004: 36,92512/2005: 44,99312/2006: 44,641---------------6 months: -12.6%1 year : - 0.8%2 years : +20.9%3 years : +52.6%As would be expected, the main DCU has seen some impressive growth over the past three years, fueled largely by Infinite Crisis and its numerous lead-ins, crossovers, tie-ins and spinoffs. What's hidden beneath that…

Continue ReadingNumbers Game: Shuffling Deck Chairs on the Titanic
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Marketing Monday: First Things First

Among the myriad challenges comics publishers of all sizes face, one of the biggest -- and most frustrating, personally -- is marketing. Way too many publishers believe that marketing is little more than sending out badly written press releases and snagging previews, reviews and interviews from Wizard, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, et al. While some recognize industry trade shows and fan conventions as being a necessary part of any marketing plan, few understand what it takes to maximize their presence at such events. Perhaps most astoundingly, many publishers don't even have the sense to invest in a solid web site…

Continue ReadingMarketing Monday: First Things First
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Blogaround Challenge 2007 Update

...and the Massive Archaia, Viper & Spider-Man Giveaway! 3 Prize Packs, 33 comic books...FREE SHIPPING!!! On your own blog, in a post titled "Blogaround Challenge 2007", write a brief review of three blogs that are not currently on your personal blogroll. Mine the blogrolls of your favorite blogs, Google's Blog Search, the Watchtower, or the all-new Comics Weblog Update; discover (or re-discover) three blogs that have piqued your interest and briefly review them. In that post, also link back to the original Giveaway post, and then leave me a comment with the link back to your post so I can…

Continue ReadingBlogaround Challenge 2007 Update
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Free Comic Book Day 2007

This year's Free Comic Book Day is on Saturday, May 5 -- the same weekend Spider-Man 3 opens -- and the list of comics that will be available is pretty impressive. My initial thoughts on some of them:Archie Comics (Gold): Archie Comics Little Archie 2007 Archie Comics (Silver): Sonic the Hedgehog 2007My son loves Sonic, so I'll definitely grab one for him. I'm guessing Little Archies is something new?DC Comics (Gold): Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century 2007 DC Comics (Silver): Justice League of America # 0 2007Smart selection on the Gold title as all-ages accessibility should be…

Continue ReadingFree Comic Book Day 2007
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Suburban Dysfunction & Blaxploitation

Ghost World By Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics Books, 1998; $11.95) I skipped the movie version of Ghost World when it came out because I could tell from the previews that it wasn't my cup of tea; stories of suburban angst make my skin crawl (ie: I hated American Beauty), suburban teenage angst even more so. But, I convinced myself a while back, there's no way I could not read the critically acclaimed graphic novel it was based on, right? In retrospect, that was as silly as thinking I couldn't just skip House of M and Infinite Crisis, and in all three…

Continue ReadingSuburban Dysfunction & Blaxploitation
Newer Posts
Older Posts