daccampo

December 6, 2017 8:44 pm I can maybe clear up some of this -- last year's Showcase was short on artists, so they pulled Sam, Siya and Minkyu from the 2nd workshop and put them on stories. When THIS year's Showcase rolled around, I don't believe they had yet selected the *3rd* class, so they had to use the 2nd class again. It's a weird situation, and some of it may have to do with the fact that there were more writers in the inaugural workshop than in my class, as well as the difference in the nature of the two workshops: the writer's workshop is a 13-week online course, while the artists are brought to Burbank for 7 or 10 days.

March 25, 2014 1:51 am @Arathi411: I'm completely the opposite. New #1s are, for me, the best thing a comic book series can do. I don't need big numbers. I don't even look at the numbers. But a new jumping on point is crucial for me. I've read probably just about every super-hero from the big two at one time or another -- I've learned to jump on and jump off whenever my interest waxes or wains. I'll suggest this: new #1s are the most HONEST thing comic book companies can do. Is a new #1 a jumping off point? Sure. But that means they weren't capturing your attention. Each new #1 means they have to constantly be putting up their A game to attract as many readers as possible, telling the best stories possible.

March 24, 2014 11:35 pm I've always though of super-heroes as a "sub-genre" for similar reasons to Conor. Like... they are horror stories or adventure stories or detective stories, etc. -- but with a set of extra guideposts that include some of those classic super-hero trappings. If I had to sum it up with any kind of over-arching theme it would be that these stories tend to focus on the nature of power and responsibility. But, y'know, these are all just artificial labels, anyway. ;)

March 24, 2014 11:28 pm I wished Paul HAD picked the Stray Bullets volume, so I could have chimed in on my love for that series. Now, I just have to try to weasel my way onto a Booksplode or something. :D

March 24, 2014 5:16 pm I can honestly say that my feelings on Daredevil were not just (ahem) blind praise (sorry). In fact, until the last issue of the previous run, I think the book was in a bit of a slump. And I also read the "Road Warrior" digital comic that bridged the two runs, and felt it was just OK. But, as I said on the show, for me it was all about the details. I felt as though Waid had really thought through that chase sequence, adding this layer of vulnerabilities and strengths that come with a new environment. Basically, it used a simple setup and plot to refocus the character and remind me of how thrilling and scary it would be to be Daredevil. For me, that's excellent.

August 1, 2013 12:39 am Damn... now i have to see when Red Panda started as a comic to see if I can still wrangle the title of "first podcast to comic" for Sparrow & Crowe... ;)

August 1, 2013 12:37 am Thank you, Ryan. Thank you. :)

June 25, 2013 1:35 am Sorry... To clarify: I just meant if Avengers Forever had an epilogue tacked onto it that was *similar in nature* to Age of Ultron. Meaning, if it had an ending that, rather than closing off threads, opened things up for three new series. I don't really remember the exact epilogue of AF, but if you're saying it was used to "make minor tweaks", that sounds more like a wrap-up than an "open" ending that pushes the reader to more series (as AoU does).

June 24, 2013 9:16 pm AVENGERS FOREVER is a great example. That's a fun, epic story. Now, if they tacked a 6-page epilogue to the end of that story...? And it told us that the story itself "broke the time stream," and that now all these other thing are happening because of it...? Does that lessen the impact of the story told? I tend to think it doesn't, but that may be my own ability to ignore such an epilogue. :D It definitely creates an "open ending" that begs for more. And I can see how that could lessen the impact of the story overall. It sort of puts the whole story into a larger framework ("it wasn't just that, it's actually THIS, too!"), which has a cumulative effect of diminish the completeness of the tale told. But then we're kind of used to that in serialized fiction. It goes back to Jim's point about "sticking the landing." :)

June 24, 2013 4:59 pm I'm not reading Insufferable, but I definitely want to check it out. I think I have the first ComiXology collection.... That's interesting. When watching old movies or period pieces, I often find myself remarking on how the plot elements can really revolve around the technology -- when people can't be reached by phone, or have to find a pay phone or whatever. And it always begs the question -- "how can you use modern technology to create unique 21st problems/solutions for your protagonist?" This issue of Animal Man was one of the first times I really felt that.