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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Retro: The Sentry (TPB)

I was still out of comics back in 2000 when Marvel pulled off its Sentry hoax, pretending to have discovered a Silver Age creation of Stan Lee's that pre-dated even the Fantastic Four, and getting that bastion of reputable comics journalism, Wizard, to go along with the stunt. Purportedly their answer to Superman, but with the personal foibles that were Marvel's forte, even Lee played along, claiming to remember shelving the character because he was "so powerful, he could very well have destroyed the entire Marvel Universe and everything we were planning." They even created, and then killed, a fictional…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Indie Spotlight: February 2005

[From the ridiculous to the random to the superb, a quick roundup of notable indie comics (aka, not Marvel or DC proper, though Vertigo, Icon, Image, et al, do qualify) I picked up in the past month. Release dates may vary.]Realizing a few weeks back that I didn't have a single Image title on my regular pull list, I decided to shine the spotlight squarely on them this month, taking a look at five of their newest books: Beyond Avalon, Freedom Force, Mora, and, via their Two Bits sampler, previews of The Imaginaries and Lullaby. A mixed bag overall, qualitatively…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Interview: Dabb on Atomika

Andrew Dabb is a busy man. Between writing Megacity909 and Mu for Studio Ice/Devil's Due, and Ghostbusters for 88mph Studios, you'd think his plate was full enough. But starting this March, he teams up with artist Sal Abbinanti for Atomika, "a groundbreaking story of men, supermen and the forces that shape our reality," set in an alternate future where Russia won the space race, the arms race, and eventually, the inevitable war with the USA, and where technology is God. I caught up with him online... Comic Book Commentary: Atomika - the 30-second pitch? Andrew Dabb: Atomika is an alternate…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Interview: O’Reilly on Arcana Studio, Part I

In the midst of my ever-growing pull list, there is an elite group of comic books that rank as Must-Buys, even if it means eating Ramen for lunch all week! Two of the books currently in that group are published by Arcana Studio, the fledgling Canadian indie that is home to 100 Girls and Ezra. "Arcana Studio was formed in 2004 by Sean Patrick O'Reilly...with a vivid dream and much ambition." Coming off of a successful first year, I caught up with O'Reilly online last night, still recovering from his trip to this weekend's Emerald City ComiCon. Two hours later,…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Review: Ant: Days Like These (TPB)

There's a perennial debate on which creative setup works best in comics, the collaboration or the solo creator. With superior examples on both sides, of course, there is no definitive answer, but for every good example, there's at least as many bad ones. Creator/writer/artist Mario Gully's intriguing concept - eight-year old Hannah Washington creates an imaginary world in her journal, a world where she is the powerful superhero known as Ant, a world that may not be as imaginary as it seems - has lots of potential, but, unfortunately, it qualifies as Exhibit A for the case against solo work;…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Blogger…No More

The time has come, I think. I started this blog almost two years ago to the day, January 29, 2003. Blogger's profile pages are a little wonky, not having updated since November, but I figure even with my decreased output over the past couple of months, it's been close to 600 posts and 200,000 words on everything from politics to Pokémon, poetry to...ah, pumpkin seeds? It's been fun, it's been educational, it's been great for keeping me writing, it's been great for simulating staying in touch with people, but lately, it's become more of an obligation than a joy. Some…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Getting the 1st Chapter Right

The Chapter One contest I'm one of the judges for is finally wrapping up. 125 manuscripts, the majority of which, like a poetry slam, went the maximum 20 pages! The panel wasn't able to meet in person so the contest coordinator is...um, coordinating our top six choices, trying to come up with a representative final four. The other two judges had two finalists in common, while neither had any crossover with my list. Should be interesting. With so many manuscripts to read, I developed a three-stage weeding process that netted about 15 solid "yes" entries, from which I had to…

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