Comicsgirl

Archive for February, 2006

Tamora Pierce is going to do a comic for Marvel. This is an awesome thing for my internal 12-year-old which grew up reading big piles of both Marvel titles and Pierce’s books.

I can’t tell what age group this will be intended for — David Mack’s covers will skew it older, but Pierce’s name will undoubtedly attract the young female reader (at least one would hope). I think this is probably something that’s needed in the superhero field — sure, someone like Joss Whedon can write women well, but Pierce’s perspective is going to be different. She’s a comic book fan but I’m sure she also understands a lot of the flaws in the presentation of women.

I do think a lot of this will depend on the artist they get for the title. Still, I think this is a project to watch.

Lark Pien now has an art blog. Me, I’m rather fond of her “Teen Titans” sketches and doodles, but there’s a lot more amazing stuff there to look at.

And, by the way, you don’t really need me when there’s the Flight blog to bring you all these things and more.

The Washington City Paper reports that Big Planet Comics is going after Big Monkey Comics due to name confusion (the link will go inactive after four weeks). I have this to say: Has it really been this long since I’ve been to Georgetown? I didn’t even realize Beyond Comics had changed hands.

I love Big Planet. I’ve been in all three stores and all three are nice, but I do particularly like the Georgetown one. It’s cozy and cute and packed with wonderful things. Big Planet’s focus isn’t on the toys/T-shirts/etc. side of comic books — it’s all about the comics (the other two have a bit more of those things because they’re bigger, but none are really packed with those things). It’s a great place to find new things.

I haven’t been in Big Monkey and while Beyond Comics was fine, they had less and was a bit more traditional of a comic book store. From Big Monkey’s website, it seems like it probably is, too.

I dislike that the article kind of implies that Big Planet is somehow inferior because it doesn’t feel like a traditional comic book store. That’s exactly what I like about it. All three feel like bookstores that just sell comics and graphic novels. I’m not really a fan of traditional comic book stores, though. The article says Big Monkey has “a section designed to appeal to women.” If you ask me, all of Big Planet appeals to women. It is the most comfortable comic book store I’ve ever been in. (Big Planet also has good-sized kid-friendly section.)

I think there’s room for both of them so I think the lawsuit is kind of silly. Big Planet and Beyond Comics co-existed for quite a while. I don’t see why it needs to be any different now. But Big Planet is still more likely to get my money.

Not that I really go into comic book stores any more due to laziness.

I mean, really — A TODD MCFARLANE RETROSPECTIVE????? This is a joke, right? Your recent exhibit with Michael Kaluta and Charles Vess closed a month ago and now you give us this?

(Yes, I know, two posts in one day! Amazing! I couldn’t let this slip by, though).

New Bodega is a relatively recent blog from comic creators/artists such as Brian Ralph, Jordan Crane, Megan Kelso and Paper Rad, who all have ties to Bodega Distribution. The updates seem a little sporadic, but fun stuff — mostly short comics, but some other things in there, too.

(I personally enjoy replaying the moment in my head when I realized I was buying comics from Brian Ralph at Small Press Expo last year, immediately followed by the realization it was too late to say anything to him about his work without looking stupid since I’d been looking at comics at the table for a good 5 minutes. I’ll know better this year. I can’t recommend Ralph’s Cave In enough. I am, by the way, still waiting for the Reggie-12 collection.)