Dude, Where's My Update? #19
Eisner Award updates! Archie Comics! Promises I probably won't keep!
It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I’ve been putting my head down, letting the whims of fate take me places, and trying to decide what to write about next. Also I’ve been working on recording some episodes of MMM in advance of release to give me that sweet, sweet buffer that I’ve never really had. As I’ve said before, it’s not the recording that slows me down, it’s the editing. I’m finicky, OK?
And I know I keep promising that Neon Ichiban/Sweet Shop review. I just…don’t feel like I have enough data yet. Once I download and see the watermarks on the Marvel books, I’ll give it a go.
Three Time Eisner Award…Nominee
Alas! I cannot add Eisner winner (technically) to my bio just yet. As it is said, it is an honor to be part of a group that was nominated etc, etc but it still smarts a little bit. I’m certainly selfish enough, and a bit egotistical in my imagination, that I hoped it would happen this time around. I guess I’ll just have to up my game for next year and maybe, just maybe, this publication will get nominated!
I can hear the laughter from the rafters.
It is good to dream.
Whatcha Working On?
A lot. As I mentioned above, I’ve got podcast stuff in the works and I’ve been plugging away at two different reviews for two different other publications. That’s certainly taken me away from writing new stuff for here and may be the reason I have to skip a week or two in September. With all the holidays and Climbing the Tower nearing its end, I’m going to need a real buffer to stay on top of it all and I’m not 100% sure I’ll be able to do it. Doesn’t mean I won’t try though.
As for what I’ve been doing here, that Charity and Sylvia review I did! I am still thinking about that book even now. So good. So good.
Elias Rosner
I also wanna shout out the “TMNT” list that I updated. Pulling out the Roninverse and figuring out how to still keep it within my, frankly, bonkers publication order reading list was a beast to do. I do love doing it but I also find it exhausting. I salute all the reading order sites that are considering timelines and plot points because I don’t think I could ever.
Elias Rosner
Mark, if you’re reading this, I am forever grateful for you and your Hellboy reading order. I want to see your spreadsheets haha.
The other big piece I did was a perennial topic of complaint: Marvel and comic book numbering, but not the books you’d think! I got to complain about the trades this time. I do so enjoy yelling about book design. There are few places that do it well, and it’s mostly in the boutique, small-presses (PEOW/PEOW2 comes to mind.) In the anime sphere, Discotek is the gold standard for clever, consistent, thoughtful packaging.
Elias Rosner
Did Someone Say…Anime?
Twice or so a year, Discotek, one of the last remaining distributors of anime blu-rays now that the C-suite of Sony (owner of Crunchyroll and Aniplex of America) has decided to fully microwave its brains, does a stream where it announces all of its licenses and upcoming releases. I love watching it because they give some insight into the process of getting licenses and making blu-rays plus some of their thoughts on the shows themselves and future plans.
They did their latest a couple weeks back and let me tell you, October is absolutely stacked. Big O is back and better than ever, maybe even with the original theme? More fixed up Patlabor blu-rays, one of my favorite older shows I recently rediscovered. Mawaru Penguidrum saved from the ether!! I also didn’t realize how much nostalgia I had for the fourth season of Digimon until I heard them play the theme.
I’m going to be eating good in the coming months, let me tell you.
Comics News?
I had hoped it wasn't gonna be true. I saw the inclusion on the latest humble bundle and thought, that's really odd. Then I saw a reprint press release from Image and went, that's not great. And then came the announcement of a new book and that's when I sighed and grabbed the link to the old So Many of Us page.
Big kudos to Chris, now at the Beat, for staying on top of this and summarizing for anyone who hasn't kept up with the current state of the Ellis saga.
Other comics news that hits in my corner is the shake up over at Marvel, which I hope bodes well for it creatively and logistically (KEEP. YOUR. FUCKING. LONG. TAIL. BACK CATALOG. IN. PRINT. MY DUDES.) More on that, I guess, as it develops.
Covers by Tyler Crook, Stuart Immonen, and Kano, respectively
Thonks on Writing
One thing that I noticed while writing my latest review is that I’ve been struggling with what I would call a traditional comics review. The kind of, this happened, that happened, it worked, it didn’t, score/pithy final wrap up, reviews that help Wednesday Warriors or new readers decide whether a book is worth their money (and their time.) Instead, I find myself grasping for literary theory to evaluate whether or not the project of a work has succeeded on its merits and what the work is trying to say.
Both modes are great! Both modes are valuable! But I wonder when I stopped being able to just write something analytical that’s concise and to the point. When I could just say “didn’t issue #376 of Big Robots Blowing Shit Up rock? That laser beam?! Uch. Perfection. And the moment when Maya gets to reunite with her long-lost Aunt who became a secret ninja to fight bears in the Yukon? I was in tears, man.”
It’s why I’ve been hesitant to start up single issue reviews of current comics. Well, that and by the time I get the issues in hand I feel like I’ve missed my window for relevance. Can’t always make it to the comic shop every week!
All that’s to say, I just got some early review copies of the new Archie comics relaunch and I am so excited to dig in and do a triple-feature, rapid fire review of them in the next few weeks.
Archie Comics, You Say?
Archie Comics I say! Big fan of the New Riverdale era and I am stoked for these new titles. I am still sad we didn't get a third mini from Thompson & the Fish's. Those books ruled.
My order of excitement, pre-reading, is “Sabrina,” “Archie in Hell,” “Archie.” I think I would have flipped those bottom two when W. Maxwell Prince was still attached as writer but I’m still really interested to see what Ben Winters brings to the table. “Benjamin” was a riot, after all, and with Fabio Moon on art? Hard to go wrong there.
More thoughts on these soon.
My Cats
Isn’t he just gorgeous?
Catch y’all on the flip side.
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