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Comic_Diva

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Journal Entries posted by Comic_Diva

  1. Comic_Diva
    Dear Small Press and Independents,
    Please stop publishing such fantastic stuff I only have so much room and money.
     
    Okay not really please keep up the great work, the big boys have forgotten how it?s done.Okay so I don?t really need help as I?m quite happy with this predicament. When I was younger, I used to collect from only the big two Marvel and DC. Most of my collection was Marvel books; X-men, Spider-man, Wolverine and the rest was DC books; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Warlord. As I?ve gotten older, I find I don?t care for the multiple title crossovers, the death of a key character who later is resurrected or any of the other ?big events? of mainstream publishers. Those stories tend to get repetitive, costly and boring. I don?t know when or how it?s happened but over the years, my collection has morphed and I find myself reading some fantastic books; so fantastic in fact that in some cases I read them over and over again. I look at stacks of comics, a month?s worth ready to be sorted and put away; I realize the majority of the books are not from Marvel or DC. Truth be told, those are the two smallest piles of comics at the moment. Dwarfing them is a stack of IDW books (who can resist Locke & Key) issue 6 of Keys to the Kingdom was epic. Thanks to Dark Horse for Hellboy which is a solid read every time and I love the fact that most of the stories are 1-shots. I?ve been reading 28 Days Later by Boom Studios. It follows the path of Selena from the movies. The writer is great, the art not so much. I hope I?m not the only one reading The Sixth Gun from Onipress or Rotten from Moonstone; Guns, Zombies and the Old West, so awesome. Stuff of Legends from Th3rd World Studios is the kind of story telling that opens the imagination to being afraid of the dark, especially the closet. I?m a little behind in my reading and I just finished Infinite Vacation Issue 2. WOW what a mind blower. The first issue was okay at best, but issue 2 started off with a bang (the lead character is hit in the head and kidnapped). Great stuff. Next I caught up on Morning Glories. I have no idea what?s going on but I?m most certainly along for the ride. The creep factor of this private school just increases with each issue. Hype aside, I loved the initial story and art of Nonplayer and I look forward to more. Green Wake gave me goose bumps with its dark interior and spooky storyline. I picked up Proof in trade paperback and I?ve been a fan since reading volume 1. Then I added Proof Endangered to my pull list of monthlies, I have yet to be disappointed in this book, it is quite entertaining. Butcher Baker was a riot, so outrageous with the sex and language, with the American Flag splashed in every other panel. Yes I am a fan of The Walking Dead; I became a convert in 2003 with issue 1. At this rate, I?m going to run out of space in my Comic Cave soon.
  2. Comic_Diva
    I?ll buy that for a dollar!
    I like the big conventions because of the huge guests and vendor lists; however I can easily appreciate small shows as they can typically have hidden gems. I attended the Comic Geek Speak Super Show this past weekend, April 30-May 1. Bonus, my local comic store had free tickets that covered the show for both days. A large con would never do this. Anyway, I?ve had Superman Issue 423 on my want list for years. Finding a nice copy at a price I?m willing to pay had been a challenge. I walked up to a small box on labeled $1 and the very first book was Superman 423.Plus the book appears to be at least 9.4 maybe a 9.6.
  3. Comic_Diva
    Free Comic Book Day For Me Then (2002) and Now (2011)
    In 2002, when Free Comic Book Day was first launch, I was working as a teacher?s assistant while pursuing a bachelor?s degree. After years of feast or famine working as a graphic artist, I switched careers. I was barely living then, paying my bills and buying comics on a shoe string salary of 13k. Free Comic Book Day sounded like a joke to me at the time, why would publishers and comic shops give those books away when I was willing to pay for them every Wednesday. Still I saw the value in this event, that is to get new and more interest this hobby. It didn?t hurt that the day happened to coincide with Spider-man in the theaters. I was in comic book heaven, I didn?t care what the free books were about just that they were free and there was buzz about comics in Hollywood. I was so excited I sent an email to coworkers (a chosen few teachers), explaining Free Comic Book Day, how comics encouraged reading and that there was potential value in the hobby. Needless to say, many of the teachers didn?t respond, and the few that did, sort of scoffed at me.
    Fast forward 9 years and things are much different. I didn?t send an email to my coworkers; I posted a news link and a comment on my Facebook wall. This garnered many responses, all favorable. Free Comic Book Day has gotten bigger and bigger each year since its inauguration and now it is a May main event. Today, I make 7 times my shoe string salary and I buy all the comics I want. ;-)
    I picked up a number of comics from 2011 Free Comic Book day. I have some old favorites that I like to get each year, however I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the additional stories and previews in the Mouse Guard book. I loved Return of the Dapper Men, so to see a preview for the new graphic novel was a treat. I liked that Archaia didn?t advertise the content of this free comic book issue. And how wonderful to see a preview of Jim Hansen?s Tale of Sand, since seeing a promo poster at C2E2 for this story I?ve been very interesting in its release. The artwork in Dark Crystal was interesting though I?m on the fence about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the standalone story of Baltimore. I read the Plague Ship miniseries and have since looked forward to more stories about this character. The recap and preview of The Stuff of Legend comic was awesome, I am a fan but my bias aside the guys at Thi3d World Studio write one hell of a book. The Intrepid Escape Goat was fun; it reminded me of Indiana Jones meets the Mummy, mixed with Houdini, what a good time. I was a little disappointed in Jake the Dreaming, it was very text laden and wasn?t a comic as much as a preview of the graphic novel. Selected chapters were printed for this book and I guess I?ll just have to wait for the graphic novel release to determine my like or dislike. Worlds of Aspen 2011 had an image of Lady Mechanika on the cover, though the story is a repeat from issue 1, I still picked the book up. Joe (Jose) Benitez?s artwork for this series is eye catching and I couldn?t resist. Last year, Oni Press pushed a book entitled The Sixth Gun. The cover art looked interesting and I quickly came to realize that the story was just as good if not better than the art. This year, I pulled Spontaneous with the hope that I had another winner.
  4. Comic_Diva
    It's okay for me to disappear for a month or two but not a monthly comic book title.
    I've let a month go by without signing onto the CGC Chat boards. There was no particular reason for my absence other than work, school and life in general. Still as I make my return to read though the threads of comics news and shenanigans I notice absence of several modern titles of which I enjoyed:
    Lady Mechanika: Seriously Aspen?!?!? Part of the reason I stopped reading your comic titles is because of poor publishing. Most of your books are mediocre at best but every now and then you come up with something worth reading only to ruin the fan base by missing release dates. What the heck!?!? Really? Issue O of Lady Mechanika (which sold out and should have been more than enough incentive for this publisher to meet its deadlines) was released in October 2010. Issue 1, another sell-out; was released in December 2010. Since then there have been numerous reorder dates missed deadlines. It's freaking July 2011 and nothing. F- (yes that would be the lowest grade possible)
    Nonplayer: I'm not sure that this book really lived up to its hype. Don't get me wrong, I loved the artwork and the storyline was very interesting. But since its release date in April 2011, Issue 2 of Nonplayer has not seen the light of day. The buzz on this book has more than died, it's moved to a silent fart. F-
    Batwoman: How clever of DC to give more face time to a character that has building interest. When the Kate Kane Batwoman debuted in 52, she had an immediate following. Later after the death of Batman, Detective Comics featured Batwoman as the lead from Issue 854-864. A storyline crafty spun by Greg Rucka, Batwoman garnered enough interest to have her own Bat title. Issue 0 of Batwoman was released November 2010 and that is where it ends. The release dates for Issue 1 have come and gone so many times I've lost count and interest. F-
    Chocker: I like Templesmith's artwork and so when an new limited series was relaese, I purchased it. The first issue of Chocker arrived in February 2010 with much hype and fanfare. Short lived as the title was immediately plagued by missed release dates. Issue 6 has not been release and it's July 2011. You stink for that McCool, Templesmith and Image. F-
    I don't really care to know the reason "why" deadlines are missed. I remember waiting forever for All Star Batman, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, should I even mention a comic series called Fell? It's pitiful what publishers and creators do to fans when it comes to missed deadlines. For me what really stinks is missing good stories. Each week the shelves of my local comic shop are littered with good and bad titles, yet these books continue to be missing in action.
    F-
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  5. Comic_Diva

    Tweet Away

    By Comic_Diva,

    I am not good at online blogging or journal-ing, but I have learned to tweet.
    I discovered my past CGC journals and felt the bug to post something. Truth be told, I have been a very busy diva; finishing two more graduate degrees and focusing on my professional life. Now that homework is over and things seem a little calm at work I have really been getting back to my comics. Along the way, I have started and learned to use Twitter and my what a universe. I have redesigned the comic cave, new paint and such. But mostly, I have enjoyed catching up on awesome books I like to read. I remember posting that Image was taking over my collection. The assimilation is complete, there are no DC (exclude Vertigo) or Marvel books on my monthly pull list. Though Image is not alone in my pull box, it has been joined by Dark Horse, OniPress, Boom Studios, Archaia and various other creator owned publishers.
    If anyone is interested, find me on Twitter comic_diva. Oh and one more thing, that copy of Superman 423 I found at a small show, it came back a 9.6.

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