Some Links I Like

I still have a few comics from this week to read, so I'll hold off a bit on the reviews. Meanwhile, here are some cool comics links, some of which were from SDCC.

• Brie Larson was cast as Marvel's Carol Danvers/Capt. Marvel and I'm thrilled. She was on my short list.
• There will be more Firefly/Serenity comics, thanks to Dark Horse. The previous ones were wonderful.
• Comics and the Blind is fascinating. I worked for 19 years as a librarian for people who physically can't read standard print, so this is a subject that really matters to me.
• More Jessica Jones comics from Marvel!

Just a Link

I agree with most of these suggestions for DC, but not the one about Catwoman. I much prefer the Catwoman as revised by Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke, not classic Catwoman.

Drawing on Walls

This is so cool. Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick sure know how to decorate.

Feminism vs the Status Quo in Geek Culture

A couple of really good articles on how females are excluded from geek culture by the companies that creature geek media.

• Author Peter V. Brett laments the lack of female role playing characters in DC's Justice League game.
• A look at how marketing geek media is exclusive by design.

I read a bunch of comics. I'll get reviews posted soon-ish.

Three Reviews and a WooHoo!

Batwoman 19
A lot of little things add up to setup for the next issue and, I suppose, beyond. Nice byplay between Bette and Kate. But, like Bette, I am getting very tired of the DEO and Bones.

Nightwing 19
I wasn't sure how I felt about Tony Zucco being alive and Dick going to Chicago to hunt him down, but so far, this is going well, as in not at all well for Dick in a city as corrupt or moreso than Gotham and where costumed crimefighters are suspect at best. Dick is usually at his best when pushed to his limits and beyond, but really, the guy deserves a break or two, maybe even a relaxing vacation.

Red Hood and the Outlaws 19
Oh boy.James Tynion IV takes over the writing with this issue in what he promises is the beginning of a story arc that will threaten to pull the team apart and deal with some heavy issues in their lives and I'm happy to say this issue, one half of a two-issue story and setup for what's to come, really delivers. Still reeling from being kidnapped and tormented by the Joker and Damian's death, Jason returns to the home of the All-Caste and makes a decision that, well, let's just say that when Kori and Roy show up -- because no way they're leaving Jason on his own -- they're in for a real shock. Roy gets to expresses his fears early on re: Jason's importance in his life:

"These last few months working with the two of you... ...It's the first time in years my life has been worth living. We're good together. It can't be over. I won't let it be."

Now, seriously, this is the writing of someone who gets Roy, in any reality, because at his core, for all his surface confidence, even arrogance, Roy has big self-esteem issues and insecurities. I am really looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds over the next few months.

And now the WooHoo. From reading many other comics blogs today, I learned it was the 75th anniversary of Action Comics 1, the legendary comic that brought Superman and Lois Lane into the world. Lois was one of my first favorite comic book characters, all the way back to 1960 when I became a regular comics reader. Here's to another 75 years and I hope she and Clark/Superman get together in the current reality, even if I'm not reading it.

Arrow

I thought the first preview looked intriguing, but this longer one is downright enticing.  I never watched Smallville, but I might actually watch Arrow this fall.

Comics for the Blind

Just saw these folks mentioned on Twitter: Heroes in the Dark, a project to record comics for the blind and visually impaired, a very worthy cause.

Comics Website

Just poking my head out to post this link to a cool site, Just the First Frame, which allows you to see/sample a comic yet by posting only the first frame, doesn't violate copyright the way so many sites do.

I haven't otherwise posted here lately because I still haven't been reading comics and therefore, haven't had anything to talk about.

Quick Post

I so love these animated covers.

Yeah, I'm still here. Just haven't been reading comics lately. The stack is growing, despite my getting only a few a week now.

Full of Awesome

These animated comic book covers are amazing. So clever and well done. I followed a bunch of links to get to the source and forgot to leave bread crumbs to mark the trail. Sorry. But thanks to all who posted about these.

Yet More on the DCnU

If you haven't seen it, this is awesome: What the DC characters think of the DCnU.

I read Grifter 2 and while not much seems to be happening, it hasn't turned me off, so I'm still curious and still reading.

Not a Rant for Once

If you don't know about Phil Noto's Tumblr, you'd be wise to check it out. Some of the sweetest comic art around. Currently, he's been posting gorgeous drawings of the Game of Thrones characters. A lot of comics folks and comics fans are using Tumblr to nice effect.

I have my own pathetic little Tumblr, Random Shelly, which right now is mostly reblogs of my main blog, Cyber Chocolate.

So Far Behind

The To Read stacks of comics here are getting scary. Did read Secret Six on the way home today. Talk about convoluted. It's getting hard to tell what side anyone is on. And Waller is definitely someone you love to hate.

Meanwhile, Dark Horse has Last Kiss Comics goodies: including mugs and sticky notes. I love Last Kiss and these goodies would make nice gifts. They should be hitting comic stores, soon.

Publicly Reading

Oh. My. August 28 is Read Comics in Public Day. Who knew? I certainly didn't. I have enough trouble keeping track of Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is September 19, if you've forgotten, don't know, and even if you don't care.

Of course, I already engage in once a week public comics reading, on the subway on the way home on Wednesdays when I read the comics I can't wait until I get home to read. But this sounds like a "bring comics to work and read in the park on my lunch hour if it's not raining" day, because as luck would have it, I'm scheduled to work that day.

Meanwhile, I read 2 comics on the way home this past Wednesday: Supergirl 55, which I liked a lot, and Power Girl 15, which I liked not as much.

I could've called this post "A Tale of Two Karas." I find it interesting how both Kara books so often come out the same week. Bizarro SG is the more fun Bizarro, and her solidify vision still makes little sense, but it was better than it appeared last issue. A fun read.

Then there's Power Girl. In his first issues, Winick was doing a decent job, and while I didn't like Kara losing her company, it worked in well with the previous arc, so I was okay with it. But this issue, I think Judd lost his grip of the plot. Or his sanity. We suddenly find out one of her staff is a hacker with a history that includes snitching after he was busted for identity theft, which doesn't upset or contradict the previous years' worth of story, but still, seemed to come out of left field. But I was okay with it. Until the end where Nick tells Karen that he's figured out she's Power Girl. Not that that would've been hard to do, given how inane her alibis and excuses have been, especially with "Karen" calling him to help PG. If this was supposed to be a plot twist, it fell flat for me, because I considered Nick a pretty smart guy, so if he hadn't figured it out by the last page, that would've been the plot twist, making him the stupidest hacker of all. Because, really, if you can't see what's so obvious. Which I also didn't like, because this Kara is a very smart woman and she really isn't so stupid as to think he wouldn't or couldn't figure it out. But maybe the surprise was that he bothered to confront her.

The writing on the book is okay, but not as good as the previous writers. Which means, for me, that the art needs to pick up the writing to keep me reading and well... Basri is a nice artist. Kara looks pretty good, she doesn't seem overly sexualized, the action is done well, and yet, coming after Amanda Connor's work, there doesn't seem to be much emotion here. A lack of soul, for want of a better word. The lack of detailed backgrounds, and in some panels, no backgrounds, helps the art look flat in many panels. Coupled with a story I don't much are about, this is not a book I'm loving right now. I'll let this arc play out, and then I'll decide if I'll keep reading.

Comics in Education

I have some reviews I need to get posted. After 2 days without my home broadband, I'm back in business. Meanwhile, this article in Publishers Weekly is worth reading: Comics in the Classroom.

Comics Fun

Project Rooftop has the winners of the Wonder Woman Wardrobe War Contest. I really like some of them.

A list of the current DCU Multiverse worlds.

P.O.W.E.R.-ful

I joined Ning, a social networking site, a year ago and had no idea what to do there. Fortunately, P.O.W.E.R. (Promoting: Ownership, Writing & drawing, Editing and Reading) came along. I joined immediately upon seeing a blog post about it (so quickly, I forgot to make note of where I saw it mentioned). It's about networking to find ways to promote those good concepts in the parentheses for women and minorities in comics. If that's something you agree with, join. Now. You'll be glad you did.

I added a link to P.O.W.E.R, hereafter to be referred to simply as POWER, in the sidebar.

Comics Day Minus One

Just because, here's a fun pic: It's Batman! Well, not quite, but close enough.

Meanwhile, I read 3 more comics from the stack, mostly from last week.

Aquaman 51
I haven't decided if I like this storyline -- almost too much seems to be happening -- but I don't like the art. To go from the gorgeous, realistic covers to the interior art with the oddly elongated, cartoonish faces and lack of detail is just unsettling for me.

Brave and Bold 3
Batmand and Blue Beetle made for a fun team and I like that the story is working on many levels, so we got Supergirl from last issue, looking for GL and hooking up with Lobo, to lead into the next issue's main team.

The Spirit 5
I love this book. It's fun, it's breezy, it's serious, it's a perfect blend of script and art. I'm not one to repeat the story details in a review and it gets tedious for me to keep saying a book is great, so go read it. But that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

Modesty Blaise

This is a moving story of Peter O'Donnell's inspiration for Modesty Blaise. Now I can't stop wondering what happened to that amazing little girl. The links at the bottom of the page don't work, unfortunately. Thanks to Peter for the link to the article.

Good Thoughts Re: Supergirl

H over on The Comic Treadmill has some super thoughts re: Supergirl, mainly her return in Superman/Batman.

And here's a nice Supergirl site. I found the link at the Blog@Newsrama. Here's another Supergirl
site.