Been a while. Just finshed issue 8 of Kick-ass. Wow. This book got me from the very first issue, and held on tight. Im pretty sure it had me by the balls too (in a great awsome way.) That is the most accurate way i could describe reading this book. It was crazy violent, the story was good, and each issue left you wanting more. Even though it was 8 issues spread over like 2 years, i wont hold it aganst them.

I am a sucker for the cliff hanger ending, and im not afraid to say that is a big reason i stayed ontop of this book; I had to know what happended next. Of course that story between cliff hangers had to be pretty good two. The way they put this in the real world was pretty great. They kind of explored what would happen if a super heroe actually showed up and caught on.

I highly recomend this book if you like a book with a good bit of violence and set in the real world. i also love romita jr's art great for of the graphic stuff.

Batman Superman: Public Enemies

Just watched the newest DC universe direct to dvd animated movie Batman Superman: Public Enemies. It was alright. not the best thing they put out. it is loosely based on the first arc of the Superman/Batman comic. like with alot of these DC direct to dvd movies they took some liberties, but i feel that that doesnt mean much when your source material is the worlds finest team up book that turned into a goofy ass mess, if not during, soon after, this story arc.
They really translated the art style from the comic to the movie well, but the art style in the comic is a bit to cartoony for me, so that isnt saying much.
All and all, dont worry to much if you miss this movie. Go get Justice League: a New Frontier instead.

Collecting comics

The Manual

About two years ago i wrote a 12 page manual on how to collect comics for my business writing class . Now i am going to share that information with you. The manual goes over the basic of how to start collecting comics, for fun or as an investment, and gives you some information that you may not know when just starting. a lot of it is based on my own experiences as a comic collector of the past 14ish years, but i also did a lot of research on the subject online and what not.

To summarize, first you should know why you are collecting, do you like comics cause they are fun to look at and read or do you hope to get the next Amazing Fantasy 15.

Sidebar:I don't really say this in the manual, but getting into comics to make money, I don't think, is very viable anymore for a few reasons. one of the reasons why old ass comics are worth a lot now is because they were not meant to last this long and thus most have disintegrated. comics printed today can last practically forever in pretty bad conditions, where a 1960's book sealed in vacuum would still practically melt. so if your getting into comics for money, you better have enough to buy detective comics 27 and sit on it for a few years, because otherwise you wont be making much. But, really, in order to make really good comic book investments you need a lot of money, because the only comics that are almost garunteeted to go up in price in the future are already way up in price. end sidebar.

After you decide on fun or profit, next is what you want to collect. This should be simple, it just has to be something you like because if it isnt something you like what is the point.

Now, you have to find a place to get the comics, this isnt hard either, the internet is always a good place to start. Sites like Milehighcomics.com Amazon and Ebay are places you can find stuff for cheap, but in my opinion you cant be the good old fashion comic shop, some of my favorites queen city comic and card co. Cincinnati Oh, Universe of Superheroes Athens Oh, and Capital City Comics Columbus Oh. In the shops you get to talk with others about comics and you are able to get real information on comics, not just comments about them on a blog somewhere.

The fun part of collecting i feel in the knowing how to grade which is key if you are trying to invest in comics. There is a lot of nuaunce to it but i go into it further in the paper. With really valuable stuff like Action Comics 1 or the like you sort of get exceptions to the rules of price to grade. Usually a damaged comic goes down significatly in price even with the smallest of damage, but with the super rare stuff this same damage doesnt do the same harm to price, im not saying wipe your ass with Batman 1, but if it has a bent corner its not going from $160,000 to $10 but more like $80,000. There are other factores that play into a comics value that i outline in the maual, things like first apearances, big events, and if there is media atention on the book.

There is also the task of storage. Really the main worries are storage space and condition. large collection need a lot of space and any collection needs to be stored in the right condidtions if you want the book to last. A rule of thumb I have come up with is that if you wouldnt want to stay ther for an extened amount of time it probably isnt the best place to store your comics. There is also the matter of protecting and orginizing the books, so basically A-Z for orginization and always use bag and board in my opinion.

Finally plan for the future. What do you plan on doing with your collection. My plan is to finish my collection, and that is all ill say about that.


The Manual

The new cool kid (and the new followers)

im listening to the newest Comic Geek Speak podcast, ep 666 "what if...", and they mention how the new "cool kids" are the "geeks" and "nerds" and that there are also new "followers". First lets define the terms (the engineer is coming out)

Cool Kid: 1, One who is knowledgeable about current events pertaining to a popular specific field (comics & super heroes). 2, shares a common language, with others, when discussing popular specific field with other "cool kids" (knowing the proper way to pronounce Ras Al Ghul). 3, knowing basics behind popular specific field(Green Lantern Oath).

Follower:1, One who is semi knowledgeable or able to feign knowledge about current events pertaining to a popular specific field of interest by "cool kids". 2, understands the common language or feigns understanding of the common language when others are discussing a popular specific field with other "cool kids". 3, does not know the basics behind popular specific field.

Basically the new "cool kids" are me and the other people reading this blog that have an interest in what i say (if there are any), I am not talking in the high school sense but the American culture sense. You may have noticed that a lot more super hero/comic book movies are coming out, and these try to cater to a nerd market which becomes the new "cool kid" group because the super heroes/comic books become a popular subject.

Generally followers don't bother me, you can be who you want to be, lead follow whatever, i dont care. But on a cultural scale, blindly following, gets on my nerves (like with Apple stuff), then when it deal with comics and super heroes it really grinds my gears (for lack of a better phrase). What many may not have realized is that comic book movies have been coming out for a long time, movies like The Shadow(1994), Blade (1998), and the TV movie staring David Hasselhoff Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (alright bad example).

My point is that pretty good super hero movies have been coming out for a good while before Spider-Man in 2002, but only now are movie producers and production companies are realizing that they can make money. The annoying following starts when companies see that they will make money by having a superhero movie and can make more without actually including an already established character (Hancock), or incorporating a super hero into a movie that really doesnt need one, just so it will maybe get some geeks in the theater (My super ex-girlfriend).

I am hoping that more comic movies in the future take a cue from movies like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Watchmen; because they were well made and well written and the fan were kept in mind when it was being put together. So basically i hope the following dies off and the leaders pick up and the true fan get involved in the production of this stuff.

What the thor!?

This is pretty funny
Maybe i should start reading Thor.

Thoughts on Black Panther

Alright, Im a fan of Marvel's Black Panther character and have been for a long time. My dad got me collecting the older 70s issues back in the day, and i have been collecting them ever since. I Never really got into the series that came out during the 90s where they completely redid the Black Panther character, making him a city street crime fighter(i think) as apposed to a king of a nation, that also gets involved in super heroics. But when they relaunched the Black Panther series with vol. 3, that stuck more with its roots (BP, Warrior King of never been conquered hightly advanced African nation of Wakanda), in 2005 I was excited. The first arc was amazing and the issue 1 variant Capetian America vs Black Panther cover was great(first pic). After that first arc I feel it lost steam and the book, I feel, just became an excuse to cross over other black superheros. Although it did have some really great crossovers dealing with the major Marvel events, especially with its ending very strong with its Secret Invasion crossover(second pic) (I highly recommend the last arc, issues 39-40 also in TPB Secret Invasion:Black Panther***READ IT***)
Now they have started anew with Black Panther vol. 4 and i am liking it so far(last pic). They have finished the first arc, it isnt as good as the first or last arc of vol 3, but it is good. It deals more with Black Panther/Wakanda stuff, politics, the kingdom, the panther religion, and so on. That is the kind of stuff that vol 3 didnt do much of, it took Black Panther out of what makes him who he is. Im not saying he should never leave Wakanda but that should be where most of his business should be; Its Black Panther's book he should be in Wakanda most of the time not teaming up with Luke Cage or Blade in New York, for some random reason. I feel like its similar to if you are reading a Solo Batman book you dont want to see Batman teaming up with Booster Gold in Metropolis or The Flash in Star City every arc.
So, in conclusion, i feel that if the new books continues down the path of a Black Panther central story and not just a team up and cross over central story it can be great, not just good.

New Batman

Alright, I have read the first two issues of the new Batman and Robin series. If you didnt know the original Batman is dead (Bruce Wayne) and the original robin has taken his place (Dick Grayson). I find it hard to formulate an opinion on a comic series with only the first issue, even if it is a series with as much history as this, so I waited a little before coming to any type of conclusions. Over all i think it is a pretty cool series so far, i like seeing the new Batman and Robin dynamic. Bruce Wayne's (evil)son, Damian: son of Talia, grandson a Ras Al Ghul, is the new Robin. Though, I dont know how i feel about this just yet because it just seems like another Jason Todd type thing where this kid is brought in because other wise he would end up a criminal(mastermind), but they seem to want to be developing a relationship between him and dick (that will be less familiar), although that cant quite be done yet because dick doesnt know who he is yet as batman. Eeven though, he seemed to make a big step at the end of issue 2.

Now, Grant Morisson and Frank Quitely are the writer artist pair on this book(they do everything together), they both have done some great stuff on their own and as a pair, i really loved All Star Superman, but it will take some getting use to with batman. I think Quitely's art style is cool for a more light hearted stuff but I feel batman is dark and mixing that with his art style makes everything kinda freakish and grotesque, but i guess that is what they are going for in this first arc. I geuss they are also going to lighten up the book too. Also in the panels when there is onomatopoeia, it spells it out in the event that is causing it, this kinda took me out of the book because i saw the word boom instead of the explosion. this was more of a problem in the first issue,but the second issue was done much better(I had to actually go back and look for it). I saw short clip of an interview with Morrison about this new book(cant find link, but is mentioned here) and he says he is going for a kind of brighter batman with Dick and a more realistic Gotham, a city that isnt just fill with crime. I think he is going to try and make Batman more flamboyant, like having the flying batmobile or fighting a ridiculous gang of circus freaks. I think since he has the new characters to work with he will basically morrison the crap out of the book. this may work it may not but so far i think it is pretty good.