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Underground > Comic Books >

Rad comic blogs

08:38 / 10.02.06

my best is definitely dave's long box. the current post there about guy gardner is a bit of a giggler. also recommended from the archive are his F%!$ Yeah! entries and his highly personalised explication of the Boob War trope in american comic books of the eighties and nineties.

[there used to just be one comics blog, and it was called fanboy rampage (pwned by a fine barbelith pedigreester). it went tits-up about three or four months ago, and so i asked old duncan if there were any others that would fill the painful hours. there are.]

other goodies are Jog the Blog, for his linkage and steady round-ups of the latest mango and indoly action books

other goodies include The Savage Critics who tell you all about what's coming out each week and if it's any rad (with help now and again from ex Fanboy Rampager Graham) and Brill Building.

these people, generally well adjusted-seeming (escept for the savage critics - those guys do work in a comic shop after all), make me happy nay proud to read comics, good ones and bad ones alike. they also regularly tell you about movies and tv and their kids and shit, which is often a nice break from news of the funnybook world that, i'm sure they'd be the first to admit, they spend a little too much time in.

which ones do you know/like? links if you can be arsed please.

09:49 / 10.02.06

Dave Campbell is a geezer. His Halloween S.H.I.E.L.D recruitment presentation was fantastic.

I like Jog, too, and Comics Should be Good, as well.

11:31 / 10.02.06

I guess you mean blogs with comic reviews, but I usually check Heidi's The Beat for news, sometimes even before breakfast.

12:04 / 10.02.06

There is always the X-Axis for all things X related... Paul O'Brien likes the X-men... a lot, but that doesn't blind or bind his reviews which arve fair, accurate and often more entertaining than the comics they review... particularly the review written in iambic pentameter for a Chuck Austin issue of X-men...

12:22 / 10.02.06

I second Dave's Long Box, Brill Building, Jog, and the Savage Critic.

And I'm partial to Comics Should Be Good also, but that's because I'm one of the writers, albeit one of the lazy, sporadic ones. CSBG and Listen to Us, We're Right are the one-two punch of the blogosphere. That one Listen fellow's entry on All-Star Superman #1 alone...

I've also started to dig The Absorbascon, and I try to check out The Hurting and The Comic Treadmill regularly. Fun and snarky and self-awaringly nostalgic.

For completeness' sake, my Favorites folder also includes The Johnny Bacardi Show and Peiratikos.

And where would be be without the snazzy analysis of Crisis/Boring Change or the madcap old-timey love of Dial B for Blog?

Yes, I'm aware that I read far too many comic blogs.

15:32 / 10.02.06

Yeah, I shoulda done this ages ago. Thanks, gumby.

Other than the ones Gumbs and Bill have offered (I do hate to say it, but there's one guy on CSBG whose faux-naif style I can't really abide; not Bill, I hasten to add - Harvey Jerkwater's pretty good there too) of which Jog is my favourite by some distance now, as painfully hard as it is to abide guys younger than me writing much better than I'm capable of about my favourite subject - the comics, I have in the Favourites:

Beaucoup Kevin, who's responsible for bringing my attention to those unbelievably awesome Japanese Spidey TV progs and some nice banners 'n' photo strips. Occasional bitta commentary.

Double Articulation and I am NOT the Beastmaster for supremely beardy, collegiate readings - some of which I can take or leave, as with the recent discussion between the two of the polemics of multiplicity in the DCU, but some of which is very handy in the toolbox. The latter also has the best name.

Neilalien; ostensibly a Doc Strange fansite, but really an institution in comics blogging, having been up in excess of five years. Ofttimes, Neil comes up with the links.

And lastly, Ragnell's Written World which came to my attention via Jog; some feminist appraisals of 7S and DC books in general. More fun than that might sound. Pics of Kyle Rayner's ass = fanservice equity. Apparently she's a member here (one post was entitled 'the wisdom of Barbelith', or somesuch, and had loads of Chad/Benny the Ball pearlers.)

15:59 / 10.02.06

Was hitting moviepoopshoot.com for the weekly Comics 101 which is about to become it's own site.

X-Axis is pretty cool.

Very quick scans of Newsarama & 4th Rail... only less so these days.

18:24 / 10.02.06

Fourth Rail seems to be practically out of business - Randy Ladner stopped writing reviews and the other reviewer, Don MacPherson, has been on break for what seems like several weeks now.

20:44 / 11.02.06

Fourth Rail is far too generous if you ask me. X-Axis has far better reviews, although they are primarily, and sadly, limited to the x-sphere.

Haus of Mystery

11:36 / 20.06.06

Heads up kids! Please get yourself over to this week's Dave's Long Box for much comics nutrition. This is how fanboys should all be. Man's a genius.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:13 / 20.06.06

I'm a big fan of the clarity, focus and accessibility, of Warlock Magazine.

13:37 / 20.06.06

Y'know, I came here to pimp Ms. Ragnell's blog, and I find out she pimped me?

Alas, I checked, and only once, so I'm confused whether I really have "pearlers" on her site. Besides the comment about Helligan she dissected, I'm not really present. Where else have I been taken inside of context Dunc?

Haus of Mystery

15:51 / 20.06.06

Re: Warlock Magazine.
Damn but that's a beautiful 'Nightwing' cover. You shouldn't have a cover that good on a comic that is, quite clearly, bunt. A poor soul might end up buying it...

21:18 / 03.07.06

Wake up, babies!

It's come to my attention that y's've all been sleeping on the Invincible Super-Blog, and this week when Chris Sims picks up the ball that Dave's Long Box dropped a while back, with Badass Week, it's time - like my man Leroy Atreides says - for the sleeper to awaken.

Haus of Mystery

18:09 / 17.09.07

Just so's you all know the Savage Critic has gotten very good indeed recently. It's been revamped as a sort of 'Magnificent 7' of the comics blogosphere, with contributions from Jog, Graham 'Fanboy Rampage' MacMillan, and other diverse talents. It's pretty essential, and updated frequently, so if you haven't checked it out you should.

18:33 / 17.09.07

Inspired by Dave's Long Box, which I read all of in the span of a few days, I've started my own comics blog, Dollar Bin Blues over at LiveJournal. I've posted thrice so far, covering the first five issues of the 90s relaunch of House of Secrets, the Typhoid mini-series, and the tpb collecting Dan Slott's short-lived Thing series.

The next column will likely cover the first Essential Marvel Two-In-One, followed by anything else that can be had for relatively cheap. I have a couple of long boxes full of unread back issues, and the hideous compulsion to acquire more.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

05:18 / 18.09.07

Today's pearl is Geoff Klock's blog. Not only does he have a last name I would kill for, he writes witty and excited commentaries. He's been writing about Casanova some and also hsi reasons why the first three issues of JLA Classified are his perfect comics.

06:02 / 19.09.07

Definitely This guy's blog. He does two comics right now that are on the Act_i_Vate group, one called Space Sucks, and the other Glam. I have my own blog, but it barely has anything on it at the moment.

08:56 / 19.09.07

I just like to second Chris's Invincible Super-Blog as it's full of joy such as ROM Week.

10:35 / 19.09.07

Al, mate, you've really been here long enough to know about WRITING MORE WORDS.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:53 / 02.10.07

Just been looking through "Don't Worry about the Countdown -- Focus Elsewhere," which is initially amusing because the author intended it from the get-go as a follow-up to another blogger's popular 52 Pick-Up, only of course Countdown is an aimless waste of paper. As a consequence, you get some really good essays looking at different things, though he does tend to devote a fair amount of time to Morrison, which may bode good or ill. His recent post on Batman is a good read that explores how critics deal with writing about comics and the lack of emphasis on the artwork and design sense; particularly synchronous with the episode of Definitely Not the Opera's podcast from CBC this weekend, which delved into the art of criticism in the "everybody has a blog" world of today.

Haus of Mystery

20:46 / 11.10.07

Good old Dave Campbell has a nice summary of one of my major beefs with the industry at the moment. ie the lack of actual value for money content in your average 22 pager these days. The 'waiting for trade' strategy is not only disrespectful to the reader, but makes for an easy ride for the writer. Chuck in a few double page spreads with one word of dialogue, and your away. Warren Ellis is on of the biggest criminals of this. I seem to remember a recent issue of 'Thunderbolts' where we had four fucking pages of the Steel spider coming into his apartment, and taking off his costume. No dialogue. Seriously, one of the joys of comics is that we don't need that kind of long winded continuity framing. A character can go from Earth to Space in a matter of a panel. Or another Universe.

Haus of Mystery

18:54 / 20.10.07

Dave knocks it out of the park with his breakdown of the Teen Titans.
Robin in particular is a gem:
“Two Face killed my parents and I wear bikini bottoms. And I grew up in a cave full of goddamn bats and a psycho drill sergeant surrogate father who regularly thrust me into combat unarmed against people with guns. Every other night I got knocked out or tied up or strapped to a giant cue ball. So I ain’t trying to hear that shit you're talking.”

22:39 / 20.10.07

How much do you like Dave Campbell, Tone?

A fucking lot.

That being said, the Titans piece is one of the very best he's done in a looong time.

23:03 / 20.10.07

Is/was Wally Republican?

Because, yeah, the rest was dead on and pretty funny, but that line made me stop and run a mental roll call of Titans, to work out who it was.

It'd be funnier if it were Roy Harper, but, well... it had to be Wally. (Who I would've pinned as a union-friendly conservative Democrat, myself, but that's based mostly in Waid and Morrison stories.)

18:11 / 21.10.07

The 'waiting for trade' strategy is not only disrespectful to the reader, but makes for an easy ride for the writer.

Definitely, and it's not like that ridiculously 'decompressed' stuff plays any better in the trade. Those late period Transmetropolitan trades took 45 minutes to read at most. The thing about comics is that, unlike film, we are in control of the time. So, we don't need four pages of the guy taking off his costume, one panel can convey the same mood and feel. The best comics are full of singularly iconic images that tell you everything you need to know in one panel.

One of the things that strikes me about reading Jack Kirby's Fourth World books is how much is crammed into an issue. There's some plot happenings, some character development and a ton of ideas. Each issue is a satisfying piece unto itself, while also tying into the larger story. That's what GM's Seven Soldiers did too, each issue is a 'meal,' and your average comic today doesn't do that. It's not even about story resolution, it's about actually giving you something to think about, not just a cliffhanger to get you back next week.

18:12 / 21.10.07

Along those lines, I'll just add that comics are the only medium where you're paying per page. Books cost pretty much the same regardless of how long they are, a three hour movie costs the same as a 90 minute one. But in comics, each page is reflected in the price tag, and writers should probably keep that in mind.