mrlogical

May 24, 2012 12:02 pm Duane Swierczynski's name meant nothing to me until several months ago when I saw a mention on twitter that his book Fun & Games was on sale on Kindle for $0.99. I needed something to read at the gym and figured I could spare a buck. I was very glad that I did--it's a great, smart, fast-paced thriller, well worth a read. I finished that book right around the launch of the New 52 and have been really digging his Birds of Prey for similar reasons. I would otherwise have writen off Bloodshot as an unnecessary revival of a 90s character better off left behind in that decade, but between seeing that Swierczynski is writing it, and after all the fun I've had with the similarly unlikely Extreme relaunch, I'm excited to check this out.

May 21, 2012 1:06 pm Also, while I really appreciate so many things about what Bendis and Oeming are trying to do with Takio, that "Collector's Item!" stamp on the cover of Takio #1 is so, so gross. That they (or someone in charge) thinks that labeling issues "Collector's Items" is the way to help this book sell is bad news for comics. The collector's mentality has done way more harm than good for comics in the long term, and the idea of interesting new readers by telling them that their issue is "rare" (and, implicitly, potentially valuable) is attracting the wrong kinds of buyers, if it attracts anyone at all.

May 21, 2012 1:01 pm I enthusiastically agree with every word, especially "fuck preorders." A few years ago, I felt guilted by creators banging the preorder drum, saying it was the only way to *truly* support their work and that it was necessary to ensure their books continued to exist. As someone who wants to support the things I like, I dove hard into pre-ordering everything all the time (via DCBS, which remains a great store). But I soon discovered that I hadn't really appreciated all the problems with pre-ordering--I wasted so much money on pre-ordered books that, had I waited, I would not have purchased (either because you have to buy 3 issues of a new series before you can read the first issue, or because massive delays occurred between issues so that I'd lost interest, or because my interest in a title had dropped off while I still had issues paid for--especially dangerous in the world of Marvel double-shipping). And all the books that needed my help so badly? They seemed to continue to get canceled at more or less the same rate. I buy everything digital now, and it's saved me so much time and money. I don't regret the switch for a second.

May 20, 2012 9:57 am I'm really surprised by how good this book is. Why is no one talking about it? Or maybe people are and I just haven't noticed. But it's really good, I'm looking forward to more.

May 18, 2012 4:29 pm I don't love the style of the interior art either, but I really like the layout and storytelling going on in these pages. It's a nice design and you can already get a good idea of what's going on without a word on the page. I think if this were inked lighter and/or colored a bit differently, I'd be a big fan.

May 15, 2012 11:30 am I love that old-school X-Factor cover with the heads in the corner. I dropped X-Factor maybe 8-12 issues ago because it felt a bit meandering, but it seems like people started talking about that book again almost as soon as I dropped it, so I'm inclined to pick up the last trade or two and see what's going on. If only Marvel would drop the prices on their digital books at a reasonable rate, I'd hop in and pick up a few immediately.

May 11, 2012 6:15 pm "Yes, I said put 'It's Coming' in quotes. Don't ask why. I don't know. It's a quote."

May 11, 2012 5:22 pm Sometimes it seems like marketing must be a super easy job: "Hey guys, how should we promote our upcoming series, The First X-Men?" "How about we put the words 'The First X-Men' on a page, list the month it's coming out, and then write it again with a hash-tag in front of it?" "Great, let's all go home."

May 8, 2012 4:54 pm Well done. I recommend reading with the theme song bouncing around your head. I originally read Mr. Belvedere as Mr. Belding (thanks, Mad Men), which prompted the realization that Mr. Belding really needs to let us know how Principal John Siuntres of Ultimate Spider-man is doing. Bayside High never got attacked by supervillains...

May 7, 2012 12:21 am I enjoyed this, though thought it was a touch light on content. And throwing in an issue of Gillen's Uncanny at the end seemed like an odd choice--if you were new to the X-Men and read this book, going to a story that features none of the characters from Season One except Cyclops and going from McKelvie art to Greg Land must be disorienting on many levels. Also, I was struck by how the blurbs on the back of the booked seemed to be damning it with faint praise. Jason Aaron says Dennis Hopeless is going to be great one day and right now he's "paying his dues"; someone else says they'd watch McKelvie draw the phone book, or something to that effect. Both work as praise for the creators, but do not suggest any enthusiasm for the book itself--"he'll do great stuff once he can get past go-hum projects like this that are necessary to build a reputation"/"well I'd look at anything he'd draw, so I guess I'll look at this". Neither are awful quotes alone, and I don't doubt that they weren't meant in a backhanded fashion, but taken together, it makes me think at least that an editor should've gone back to the commenters for a second pass on those quotes.