Buzzscope: Down With the King?

My latest Establishing Shots column is up, a look at what Stephen King's DARK TOWER project with Marvel means for indie creators.This isn’t Joss Whedon taking on the X-Men or promoting his movie; and it’s not Brad Meltzer taking on some of the most recognizable icons in American pop culture. This is Stephen King offering original material in a sequential format, in a genre that is, to put it charitably, under everybody's radar when it comes to comic books.Funny thing about a monthly column that's equal parts commentary and site hype, is the commentary aspect rarely ends up being about…

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"How Are You Doing?"

"Why Haven't You Called?""Did you get my email?""When are you going to hang out next?""Come on! It's only for a few hours!"I get some version of one or all of these questions all the time, and the same way people don't really mean "How are you doing?" when they ask, "How are you doing?", I usually give some half-assed excuse of being "too busy" or "too tired" as an answer every time. It's not that it's untrue, because I usually am "too busy" or "too tired" at any given moment these days, but it's the details I tend to avoid.I…

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On The Shelves: 11/2/05

Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month!My weekly look at select comic books being released tomorrow, 11/2/05. The full shipping is list 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]ACC STUDIOS Liberality For All #1 (Of 8), $2.99Part of me feels obligated to pick this up, just because I believe I should be aware of all the "notable" comics out there, and part of me is reluctant to validate…

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Buzzscope Reviews: 10/26/05

Fear Agent #1Remender's anachronistic snark adds an interesting layer to the story as he firmly establishes that Fear Agent's setting isn't a simple derivative of the usual touchstones; it's not "like Star Wars" or "similar to Buzz Lightyear."Young Avengers #8Allan Heinberg still shines as one of Marvel's best scripters, nailing the pacing, snappy dialogue and ensemble feel of the book…and though I'm on the fence about the disappointing turn of events in this issue, I still can't wait for the next one.Bunch of good stuff on the site the past few weeks, so just click on over and poke around…

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Buzzscope: What’s a Nubian? #1

When I first came across PopCultureShock.com last year, it was the combination of the favorable response in their forums to the announcement of Reggie Hudlin taking on Black Panther (in contrast to the immediate sniping over at NEWSarama and throughout the comics blogosphere, with ignorant comments like, "Oh no! He's going to gangstify the Black Panther!"), and the "Color Commentary" column that surveyed black characters' appearances each month, that landed it a spot in my bookmarks. Of course, Hudlin turned out to be a bit of a dud, and "Color Commentary" disappeared before really fulfilling its promise, but those two…

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COMMENT: September’s G*ddamn Sales Figures

Over on the Buzz Blog, I posted some comments on September's sales figures that saw All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #2 top the list with approximately 178,000 copies pre-sold to the direct market. Further down the chart, though, something else caught my eye:ARANA #8 (13,758) and #9 (12,920) both outsold the series that spawned her, AMAZING FANTASY #12 (11,983), though Araña can presumably look to its digest collections to justify its continued existence. She's also outselling Indie darlings (and Premier Publisher counterparts) GIRLS #5 (12,002), INVINCIBLE #26 (11,574) and SEA O/RED #4 (4,764), despite Marvel's pretty much…

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On the Shelves: 10/26/05

Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month!My weekly look at select comic books being released tomorrow, 10/26/05. The full shipping is list 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]BROKEN HALOS Sinbuck Angel Eyes Wwcg Ed TPB, $14.95This gets the prize for Best Title of the Week. Mainly because it's a light week, and I have no idea what "Wwcg" means.DARK HORSE COMICS Revelations #3 (Of 6), $2.99Last issue…

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