Links Outside the Bottle

Week in Review and Friday Linkblogging, wee!

While I try and get my poop together on regular features, one of my ideas was a Friday linkblog post/week in review sorta thing, so let’s try it out and see what happens!  Here we go!
 
Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!

The big news this week in comics was the 47 or so “bombshells” DC dropped about 2010.  The one that seems to stir up the most controversy is the Year One “OGNs.”  If you’ve been under a rock (or at least don’t fanatically read comics blogs like I do), DC is launching an all new series of out-of-continuity “graphic novels” (meaning, no floppies) aimed at new readers in book stores.  The idea behind their intentions is a good one, but I think, marketing wise, they’re going to be fighting an uphill battle.  Time will tell.  They’re starting with Superman and Batman origins, which is kind of, sigh…. But again, time will tell.  Its caused a bit of ruckus with the online community.  But I’m thinking the reason for such a ruckus is only that so many folks are concerned that SOMETHING needs to be done to bring comics to a wider audience, they get passionate about it.  If nothing else, though, they’re trying and it will be a learning experience for all of us.

I’m not super enthused about the rest of their “bombshells.”   

The return of Bruce Wayne:  too soon, I think.  I like the Dick Grayson version--  I would have liked to seen them run with it a little more.  Which, I get the feeling we’ll have more time with it while Bruce has adventures throughout history, apparently. 

War of the Supermen the big event of 2010:  I had barely gotten interested in Superman comics again when this while New Krypton debacle started.  Its been pushing me away while I’ve been waiting for some status quo and some smaller stories.  I guess that’s not happening.

Legacies and the Who’s Who revamp:  I can get behind these.  Not sure if I’ll buy it, but ok.

New Flash series: Not really a big announcement, but the hype on new Flash stuff is not lost on this Flash fan! 

Other stuff…

Not a big Marvel fan, but I was pretty intrigued to hear about Valarie D’Orazio’s upcoming stint on Punisher MAX.  I’m a fan of her Occasional Superheroine blog, and the story behind her relationship with Punisher is pretty nifty.  I’ll likely check it out.  Rich Johnston seems to think its going to be an attack on the publishing industry, though Valarie’s blog post doesn’t seem to touch on that specific comment.

My colleague Mike Luoma wrote a really informative article about how to go about making your own comic book.  Gives all the need-to-know for every step.   On the pre-press side of things, it’s a tad skewed towards Ka-Blam’s specs, but I’d recommend them anyway, and it’s a great way to get a feel for pre-press stuff.

Crazy and sad story this week is the family infighting and, now, strange burglary within the Frazetta family. 

It’s a bit older, but Optimum Wound put up a post this week with a ton of cool inking videos (if that sort of thing floats your boat).  I haven’t even seen em all yet, but… yeah.  Rad.

I saw Doctor Solar/Magnus as a solicit from Dark Horse for Free Comic Book day.  No link.  Just pointing that out.  I have to wonder if Jim Shooter is going to be involved or not…  heck, I have to wonder if its going to HAPPEN or not. 

That’s it for this week.  Probably more than enough!  Just touching on stuff that caught my interested.  So far this feature seems to be fun enough for me.  I’ll slowly be adding these regular features in…  with luck!