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Skruff

Name: Matt

Bio: Geeky east coast guy, living with my husband and a 3-legged dog (and a few cats). Lifelong comic reader recently converted to the joys of digital comics to minimize the need for additional storage space (and to help preserve my husband's sanity).****************************** LIKES: - Anything by Scott Snyder, Nicholas Spencer, Brian K. Vaughn, Phil Jiminez, Oliver Coipel, Sara Pichelli - The original Crisis on Infinite Earths - John Byrne's Superman reboot in the 80s - Geoff Johns' original JSA run - The first 50 or so issues of The Walking Dead (it feels like it's kind of been treading water since the Governor) - The "Archie" Legion - The idea (if not necessarily the execution) of Ben Reilly and the Clone Saga. Don't judge me too harshly - Ultimate Spider-Man (both Peter Parker and Miles Morales) ************************************ DISLIKES: - Dissolving marriages via a deal with the devil or an editorial mandate thanks to continuity reboots - Anything by Rob Liefeld (sorry, Rob!) - Rabid, angry fanboys and fangirls - People who epitomize a real life "Comic Book Guy" in terms of their attitudes towards others ************************************** Favorite comics right now: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Invincible, Batman, American Vampire, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Chew, Fables, Stuff of Legend, Wonder Woman, Saga, Mind the Gap, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger, X-O Manowar

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Reviews
Skruff's Recent Comments
April 10, 2013 10:56 am The Death & Return of Superman is really the only time when I've been completely enthralled with Superman comics in all my years of reading outside of the Man of Steel/John Byrne era. What's more is that one epic storyline kept me engaged for several years afterward. I stuck with the Superman comics through the Super Mullet (and I was thrilled when Clark & Lois finally got married so he could get a much needed haircut), but I stopped shortly after the Electric Red/Blue Superman storyline. Nothing they've done with the character since then has drawn me back in to Superman. I was hoping the New 52 reboot would hook me, but unfortunately, it was too much of Grant Morrison's unfocused playground of grandiose ideas that never converged into a cohesive narrative (at least to me).
March 13, 2013 12:19 pm I loved Captain Carrot as a kid, and I even remembering it inspiring me to draw (poorly) my own staple of super-hero funny animals back in the day. As an adult, I was heartbroken with what happened to the characters after Captain Carrot and the final Ark! I thought it was kind of a slap in the face (even moreso than the "grim-n-gritty" story in Teen Titans) to everyone who was ever a fan of the characters. Sadly, it looks like the days of Captain Carrot are long gone with the introduction of Captain K'Rot. It's a shame there's no room for this kind of all-ages humor in the New 52.
February 1, 2013 8:40 am I think this really is a key factor. From the 5-10 years prior to the "Same day as print" digital craze really kicked off (plus the advent of 7" and 10" tablets), I was really drawing back on my comic purchases. Even as a long-time reader and comics fan, I couldn't justify the $2.99+ (even with a 20% discount from my brick 'n' mortar store). I think I was about down to maybe 8-10 titles a month. But once I went digital and discovered all of the $0.99 sales on back issues I'd wanted to read, and $1.99 for most month-old titles (except Marvel), it really brought me back into the fold. I read a lot more comics now, and it's because I'm getting more value for my money. I'm certainly paying more in pure dollar amounts for my comics than I was just 2 years ago, but I'm getting MORE comics and story to read for that money than I would have at the base cover price. I think the prices of comics will ultimately be what kills the comics industry if they can't learn how to compete with all of the other entertainment options for people that have cropped up in the last 20 years. As jnbund pointed out, why spend $4 on a single 20-page story when a non-comic reader can put that money towards their unlimited Netflix streaming account? But $1.00 - 2.00? For a good story with the characters from the Avengers movie that came out last year? That might be more palatable.
January 16, 2013 7:56 am @cosmo -- I'm actually kind of disappointed that Jim Starlin is being brought on board for Stormwatch. The stuff I've read by him in recent years has left me... cold... for lack of a better term, and I don't see that changing. Even more, I think this has been one of the key problems with The New 52 from the beginning: A reliance on using big creative names from the 70s-80s-90s to write comics in the 2010s, when the whole point of The New 52 was to REVITALIZE the characters and the DC Universe. Don't misunderstand me, many of these creators are legends and rightfully so, but if your goal is to reinvent the DC Universe, then you can't rely on creators steeped in nostalgia to build this new, exciting universe. Jurgens on Superman... again? Levitz and Giffen on Legion of Super-heroes... again? Lanning and Abnett on Resurrection Man... again? For that matter, Johns on Green Lantern.... still? (he's doing a good job, and I'm still reading it, but allowing his story to continue mostly unchanged while nearly everyone else had to reboot? That's a recipe for confusion for old and new readers alike) Then you also have Liefeld, Perez, Lobdell, DeFalco, a handful of others and now Starlin being used to revitalize other comics, and quite frankly, very few (if any) of these have really clicked with readers, because of the creators themselves, editorial mismanagement or a combination of both. Granted, some of the newer writers haven't really struck a chord with enough readers (Fialkov on I, Vampire was an unexpected hit with me, but clearly not with enough readers), and some of the legends clearly have some truly great stories left to tell, but I think DC really lost an opportunity to reinvigorate their universe when they decided to rely so heavily on past legends to create a future comics line.
January 16, 2013 7:25 am @newway12 -- I think that's EXACTLY what it is
January 14, 2013 3:39 pm I have to wonder if this goes back to the rumor that was bouncing around the internet recently that DC Management wants to disassociate creators from characters/titles in readers' minds. That way, you're less likely to get up in arms if your favorite creator gets sacked from a title, and you'll continue to buy it anyway. By changing the creative team of a title, then changing it again a few months later, then resoliciting it under a completely different creative team ("We wanted to take the story in a different direction"), it seems like one way to accomplish that very thing.
January 14, 2013 3:15 pm And so far, DC Comics Presents and I, Vampire are being canceled as of issue #19! I'm not surprised, but it's a shame, because I thought I, Vampire was excellent in every aspect!
January 14, 2013 2:09 pm Personally, I enjoy the show! Spidey's breaking of the 4th wall and the cutaways add a nice change to something we haven't seen in a Spider-Man cartoon before, and while Spidey is certainly capable of carrying a show on his own, I love the fact that he's part of a team of B-List (and C-List) heroes. It gives them a chance to shine, too, in ways we may not have seen in the comic. It's not perfect and some of the plots and jokes fall flat, but I'm not the target audience for the show... Still, I'll keep watching it! Glad to see it's back!
January 10, 2013 1:21 pm I agree with this completely...
January 7, 2013 3:17 pm I know it's sacrilege to many, but even after giving this book a chance, I still find Helena Bertinelli to be an infinitely more interesting character than Helena Wayne. I also feel like Power Girl lost a lot of what made her special with the New 52 reboot. :-/ Pity. I really wanted to like this book.