Flooded

I picked up the first trade of the most recent "Batgirl" series over the summer, and enjoyed it enough to pick up the second trade as my last online purchase before Borders announced its forthcoming closure. Unfortunately, with time and so forth, it's sat unread on my nightstand since then. I finally plowed through it today, and it was just fantastic. Miller was clearly crafting a great cast around Stephanie, and it's sad to know that it's all over.

If you haven't checked out the series yet, I highly recommend it. And I'm looking forward to the next trade(s?).

'Spider-Man': Threat or Menace?

By now you've probably heard about the disastrous Spider-Man musical's preview night, but it's still worth reading all the crazy crap that went wrong. At this point, I'm almost convinced that it's some big meta-joke, a budget-busting show about a character who lives paycheck-to-paycheck, a media disaster about a character who is loathed by the media, a threat to audiences and a menace to actors. I would be completely unsurprised if J. Jonah Jameson himself were bankrolling the project, sitting backstage and shouting "No, no, make him get stuck above the audience! I want him humiliated!" while chomping on a cigar.

Despite that, I've been getting into a Spider-Man mood lately. I picked up "Shattered Dimensions" on Black Friday, and it's gotten me back into watching "Spectacular Spider-Man" on Netflix. But at this point, I'm itching for some good modern Spidey comics, and I'd like to kind of stick to trades. I haven't been reading the Brand New Day era religiously or anything, but I've liked what I have read (BND volumes 1 & 3, "New Ways to Die," and the Mark Waid two-parter with the Shocker). So I'm looking for some recommendations: which current Spider-Man trades should I be picking up? What's the best of the best of the Brand New Day era? What should I avoid?

Incidentally, I'll spend the meantime reading Marvel Masterworks Spider-Man vol. 5, which finally just came out in paperback. I've been waiting for that since I was an undergrad. And I'm kind of shocked to see how Ditko-esque the early Romita style was. Definitely not what I was expecting.

"Things never were the same. Change is...it's what we get."

This post is not about Scott Pilgrim. It's not about Superman either, for that matter. It's about something much more personal.

My comic shop, Stand-Up Comics, is closing.

The news came pretty unexpectedly for me. Though I knew business hadn't been great, I didn't know it was nearly this bad. I suspect it's largely due to the economy--when you've got to choose between comics and food, eventually food wins. I haven't bought comics in over a month for precisely that reason. Things suck all over, and it's hard for any small business in a niche market to stay solvent in the current climate.

I've applied superlatives to Stand-Up Comics in the past, and I stand by them. It is seriously the best comic shop I've ever been to, and brother have I been to a lot of comic shops. They have a wide selection of comics, displayed in a sensible, organized manner, and with excellent discounts. They offer more than just geek paraphernalia; while most comic shops' attempts at diversification usually lead to gaming materials and used paperbacks and porn, Stand-Up Comics brought in local bands and held comedy shows. The shop is spacious and well-lit, welcoming and friendly. My fianceé always appreciated the "girlfriend couch," a place where she could sit and relax while I browsed, rather than following me around like, in her words, "a lost puppy," given that she's a lot less interested in the material than I am. That's a lot more than most stores offer their customers' significant others, or girls in general, for that matter.

Stand-Up Comics is still going to be around for a few more weeks, though you won't be finding the most recent books on the shelves this coming Wednesday. Still, everything in the store will be marked down, and it sounds like there might be some end-of-an-era events in that time as well. I don't know if I can make it to the shop in the next few weeks--I'm living pretty lean until my next paycheck or two--so I'm asking my readers for a favor: Drop by. Stop in for everyone who can't, for the people like me who are too damn broke to help out good friends. Buy some books and boards and boxes, not out of charity, not out of pity, but out of recognition. Stand-Up Comics tried new things. They aren't a conventional comic shop, and they're better because of it.

And I don't think you can say they failed. I've seen small businesses with much wider appeal than comic shops flare up and die away within weeks or months around me; when I drive around my town, I see dozens of empty storefronts, some of which have never actually been rented, others the remains of short-lived businesses from just the last few years. It doesn't help that there are several other comic shops in the same general vicinity, or that Chicagoland is home to one of the largest comic shop conglomerates in the country. That Stand-Up Comics managed to stay open and popular for nearly five years, run by a bunch of comic fans with no formal business training, is nothing short of fantastic. The owners should be proud, and I know they are.

It's bittersweet, because the last thing I want to see is my friends forced into bankruptcy by a dying business, but I also hate losing a shop I've patronized faithfully, if remotely, since they opened. I've never had a comic shop close on me before. Today, I filled out the subscription form for that same conglomerate, and it felt like defeat.

But I'll get over it, and I'll move on. All of Stand-Up's customers will, and the owners are already moving on to new things. Sometimes change hurts. And often, change sucks. But change is what we get.

So good luck to Eric, Pat, Brian, and the rest of the Stand-Up Comics crew and customer base. I'll be seeing them around, and you should be seeing them too. I know I have readers scattered all over Chicagoland and northern Indiana, I've seen the referral logs. Take a trip down to 3429 Ridge Road in Lansing, IL, and show a little love for a shop that dared to try something more than Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon tournaments. In a world where comic shops are all too often run by people like this jackass, I think actual, quality shops should be rewarded. It's in our interest as customers to encourage comic shops to be as open and friendly and innovative as Stand-Up Comics, because it's one of few antidotes against the increasing insularity and homogeneity of comic fandom. Like it or not, comics are dependent on the direct market, and the direct market is dependent on new customers. And you can only get so far in that direction by stocking up on board games and D&D books.

I'm going to stop gushing and ranting, I think. You get the idea. Now get on down to the best damn comic shop in the multiverse before it, like all good things, comes to an end.

Five O'Clock Shadow in Four Colors

As I'm sure I've mentioned before (such as in the "where I buy comics" section on the right), I get my books from the fine folks at Stand-Up Comics, hands-down the best comic shop in Chicagoland. It's through the fine, fine people at Stand-Up Comics that I met the also fine, if stubbly, guys behind Unshaven Comics, a very independent comic company. Some time ago (the first Saturday in May, in fact), Marc Fishman (1/3 of the Unshaven crew) asked me to review their Free Comic Book Day offering, the "Disposable Razors Sneak Preview."

As with everything I do, naturally, it's taken me far longer than it should have to get around to it. I have some excuses, and I really did want to wait until I could give the book my full attention, but I really should have had this review done a considerably long time ago. So without further ado, I present "Disposable Razors: Sneak Preview."

The issue consists of six teasers and a couple of advertisements (one of which is for Stand-Up Comics, clearly the best comic shop in Illinois and Northern Indiana), of varying length and, frankly, quality. I'll tackle them in order, with some wrap-up thoughts at the end.

Our first story is near and dear to me, featuring Stand-Up Guy, the superheroic mascot of Stand-Up Comics, the greatest comic shop in the Midwest. Stand-Up Guy is in reality Stanley Dupgui, a mild-mannered reporter and frequent Stand-Up Comics patron and spokesperson. So far, he's appeared as an action figure (with chase variant!), a trading card, and the star of two comic book stories, in that (approximate) order. You can check out his backstory for yourself, as explained on the back of his official trading card.

This makes the Stand-Up Guy story in "Disposable Razors" interesting, because it seems to take place in an alternate continuity for the character--one in which he is a part-time weekend cashier, and his origin is somewhat different (or he's confused about it, which can be No-Prized away with an appeal to the whole mindwiping thing from his backstory). I can't help but be reminded of how the 1940 Superman radio program began with an origin story that wildly contradicted the established comic continuity, which had existed for less than two years. Perhaps this backstory dissonance is a subtle commentary on comic book continuity issues, who can say?

The story itself is built around an amusing premise, where Stand-Up Guy fights his nemesis, Improf Komedy, in the Stand-Up Comics shop, while the owners and proprietors watch (and comment). There are some good ideas here, but overall the story feels like it tries too hard. The humor is too forced, and I can't help but think it might have been better for the Unshaven guys to sit down with the Stand-Up guys and just toss out crazy ideas in conversation for a few hours until something resembing an absurd plot would gel. If nothing else, the humor would be more suited to the coveted 18-25 Illinois Comic Blogger demographic.

Moving on, the second story is an excerpt from "The March," Unshaven's first published graphic novel, about the immigrant experience in America. "The March" came out a few years ago, and just moving from the first story to the second makes that clear. The art is a lot rougher here, and while it's clear that the artist has a great eye for framing shots (whatever the comic book equivalent of direction is in movies), it's even more clear that he's grown quite a lot as an artist since the work was published. The facial expressions are awkwatd, the inking lacks nuance, being largely all-or-nothing, the coloring is inconsistent on the character's skin. Where the art isn't dealing with detailed people, it's spot-on, but the character work is pretty rough. Also, it's kind of weird to see the f-bomb done in comic book censorship style in an indie comic. That's nitpicky, but it kind of sticks out as odd; there's no Comics Code to hold you back, and the current trend seems more toward the "black bars" school of censoring.

That seems overly negative, but let me repeat: just by going back to the previous story (a more recent effort), it's clear to see how much the art has grown. There's still the same eye for well-staged panels, and while some of the faces and bodies are still a bit awkward, the art, coloring, and inking is far more polished in the Stand-Up Guy story.

I apologize, by the way, for doing this review without scans of any sort. I don't have access to a scanner at the moment, but I may come back and re-edit George Lucas the post when I do.

The next story is something called "The White," and the lettering and art lead me to believe it was produced between "The March" and "Stand-Up Guy." I feel like an evolutionary biologist, trying to organize fossils by their traits--it's comic book cladistics. The story--such as it is--follows a young comic fan hipster-type after he falls through some wormhole into a dimension that functions a bit like The Bleed, with portals looking into other worlds. Our nameless protagonist is guided (and mocked) by a Skeets-lookalike robot whose name can be acronymized to "AESOP" (though he's never actually called that--although they hang a lampshade or two on the Skeets appearance) There's some great art here, although the figures and faces are still awkward. Inconsistencies in the protagonist's clothes and hairstyle are handwaved away by an in-story appeal to infinite possibilities and limited perception, but the inconsistencies aren't quite frequent or extreme enough to look intentional. At the end of the story, AESOP changes his appearance to become a floating face instead of a floating robot thing, but the reasoning is kind of odd.

I imagine that this is the pilot story for an anthology-type series, where the protagonist and The White are vehicles for alternate-universe morality plays, making this a kind of Twilight Zone-meets-Sliders concept. That much is cool, and I hope to see Unshaven Comics expand on the idea. Unfortunately, "The White" reads like a brainstorming session rather than a story. It feels like the script and art were done largely together, while the actual universe was still being built, which would explain AESOP's skin change at the end and such--it had to fall in line with the next iteration of the story. It reminds me of stories I wrote as a kid--or portions of my NaNoWriMo novel from a few years back--where I just wrote without really knowing where I was going, and worked out the kinks of the universe through the characters' dialogue. It's not necessarily a bad idea, but it doesn't make for the most compelling read.

I keep ending these reviews on such down-notes, and feeling like I have to do the "criticism sandwich" thing. As I said, the idea is good, it's the execution that needs work, and I have little doubt that this idea will work when there's a story to tell, and not just a framing device to set up.

The next story is the one that stuck most solidly in my mind after first reading the comic months ago, and consequently it's the one I've most looked forward to reviewing: "Ironside: Living Will." The narration in the story is in the form of a somewhat (intentionally) rambling letter from aging World War II-era soldier-superhero Ironside, to his superhero son. Having watched his whole unit die of old age and disease, Ironside is prompted to power up and go down fighting. The characterization is spot-on, as the narrative letter moves from the news of his friend's death, to the realities of war, to advice on superhero costuming, and finally to grudging respect and a final goodbye. It's six pages, but just from the narration we get to see a nicely multifaceted protagonist.

While this is going on, the art is telling its own story. The art and narration are parallel for a page or so, but eventually diverge, as Ironside powers up and puts on his fatigues, then foils a bank robbery by some thugs from 1-800-GO-GOONS and a lame supervillain wearing the Power Glove and Mega Man's Mega Blaster. He brutally assaults the thugs, and it's at least implied that he kills the villain. I've talked about my love for this kind of storytelling device before--Robert Kirkman has used similar devices a couple of times--where the words and art tell separate stories. It's something that really only works in comic books, and it's nice to see the medium's idiosyncracies being used as an asset. The narrative/art divide drives home the apparent point: that Ironside is going to go out not like a hero, but like a soldier, brutally taking down the supervillain enemy one by one. There are some elements to the story--and not just the protagonist's metallic skin--which remind me of the "Tarnished Angel" story in Astro City, and that's a pretty positive connection to build.

The art here is black-and-white, in contrast to the rest of the book, and I think that's a good thing overall. The inking is a little heavy (as it is elsewhere in the issue), but that works out well here with the darker story and the metallic protagonist. Some work could be done on the faces in some panels, but overall this is the most artistically polished story in the book, and the most compelling one to boot. I hope Unshaven Comics follows up on this story in the future; they have at least one guaranteed customer if they do.

The next story is a four-panel comic strip called "Ra: the Happy Sun God." I really can't describe it without going far too long-winded, so I'll just say that it feels like it'd make a pretty fun webcomic. That's not meant to be a knock on it, by the way. The simplified art is well-done, and I think the rest of the stories (with the possible exception of "Ironside") might do well to take a page from this style. The linework is clean and simple, a stark contrast to the often sketchy linework of other chapters. Again, this sounds more negative than it's meant to be; "sketchiness" is a stylistic choice as well (see also: John Romita Jr., Tom Mandrake, Bill Sienkewicz), but I think a little cleanup in the inking stage would help out in a lot of places--and this little strip is proof of that. The one complaint I have is that there are a lot of faint horizontal lines in each of the panels, and I;m not sure if that's an artifact of the paper or the scanning or what. In any case, it almost makes it look like the strip was initially drawn on note paper, which doesn't look particularly professional.

"Chasing Daylight: Prologue" is a one-page introduction to what appears to be a vampire story, narrated from the vampire's point of view. The art is great here, with just the right amount of detail, just the right amount of inking, and some very good coloring. There aren't many faces here, which makes it hard to compare to the other stories' biggest trouble spots, but what's apparent looks like an improvement. The biggest flaw I notice is in some wonky perspective on a car door in the first panel, which is a pretty minor detail. There's not much to the story, just a guy abandoning his car to try to escape a vampire on foot (and naturally failing), so I can't really evaluate that. I can't say that the preview does too much for me; it's too short to provide any interesting twists or tweaks on the vampire genre that would draw me in, and I think the market on bloodsuckers is largely saturated right now. I'd certainly be willing to re-examine this opinion in light of longer stories, but I doubt I'd get as excited about this as I am about "Ironside."

The final page is an ad for "The All New Samurnauts," which looks like a spacefaring Power Ranger-style team led by "an immortal samurai monkey." I'd have to know a little more about the premise before I could say anything about the series--particularly how seriously it's going to take itself--but monkeys, astronauts, and evil dinosaurs sounds like the recipe for fun comics.

Oh, and before I forget, I really like the cover.

So, overall? It's a mixed bag. "Stand-Up Guy" is fairly fun, but with limited appeal. "The Stand" has some rough art, but I can't say much about the story based on this excerpt. "Chasing Daylight" has a nice look to it, but I'd need to read more before anything would hook me. "The White" looks and feels pretty rough, but I think it'll work well if/when it's not the focus. "Ra: The Happy Sun God" would make a fun backup feature or webcomic, though I'm not sure it could carry its own issue or series. Finally, there's "Ironside," which I recommend without reservation.

The bottom line is that the Unshaven Comics crew have quite a bit of potential. At times, that potential comes through full-force, and at times it feels rougher and less refined. You can piece together a pretty clear learning curve throughout the preview, and that bodes well for their next release.

Speaking of which, I've just received word from Unshaven Marc that said release, which follows through on "The White," "Chasing Daylight," and "Ironside," will be released in time for Christmas. "Ironside" alone would be enough to make me run out and purchase it, but I'm curious to see where "Chasing Daylight" ends up, and how well "The White" works as a framing device (by the way, I totally called that). If you're in Illinois or Indiana, it's only a short trip to Stand-Up Comics, the best comic shop in America, which is guaranteed to be carrying Unshaven Comics in December, or you can watch the Unshaven Comics website for further news. Based on the preview, I recommend giving their upcoming release a shot, and I'm curious to see where it all goes from here.

Bat-Month: "Mayhem of the Music Meister"

I'd thought about liveblogging this installment of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, but that would take too much of my attention away from the episode. So instead I wrote on the commercials.

I've only seen a handful of episodes of the series so far; while I seriously enjoy its less serious take on the Dark Knight and its unabashed love of the DCU, I rarely seem to find it when it's on. And when I do, it's always the first episode with Blue Beetle or Red Tornado, or the "Incredible Journey" one with Aquaman and Atom. I've seen maybe five episodes outside of that, but when I found out that the musical episode with Neil Patrick Harris was going to air when I could watch it--and during Bat-Month no less!--I couldn't resist.

I'm going to restrict the commentary to moments and thoughts, avoiding plot summary as much as I can. You should watch it yourself; it was a blast.

So, I'd seen episodes with Green Arrow and Aquaman before, but this was my first exposure to BatB's version of Black Canary--who I didn't know had even appeared in the show before. She's one corner of a love...well, it's not even a love polygon, and I'd prefer not to draw a diagram at the moment, but she's got an unrequited crush on Batman, which is a romantic pairing that I hadn't thought about before. Somehow, despite being a comic geek and ostensibly a fan of both Black Canary and Green Arrow, I didn't consider why I'd never thought of that pairing before.

There is nothing quite like seeing Aquaman and Grodd waltzing. It's like the Silver Age coming to life.

The villain of the piece (well, aside from cameos) is the Music Meister, who is kind of a combination of the Fiddler and Pied Piper--which makes it a little sad/strange that the Flash didn't show up in this episode. He can control people's minds by singing, and wields a staff that seems to be based on the musical weapons of Bluegrass and Melodia.

There's a great scene when Batman shows up (on the Bat-Gyro¹, no less!) where those under the Music Meister's thrall approach him while snapping in the classic "West Side Story" style.

Arkham Asylum makes an appearance, looking surprisingly similar to how it looked in the old Animated Series--I'm pretty sure even the jagged font on the gate is the same.

The song set (largely) in Arkham also manages to mention the Batusi and Shark Repellent. Fantastic.

Black Canary has a ballad about her love for Batman--which is interrupted by Music Meister's ballad about his love for Black Canary--that reminds me quite a bit (something about the scansion and tune) of "I'm Not a Killer" from "Evil Dead: The Musical." It kind of makes me want to compare the writing/composing staffs for both shows.

While Batman and Black Canary are trapped in Music Meister's deathtrap, the walls are covered with band stickers and posters, all named after DC properties. They range from the obvious (Metal Men) to the obscure (Inferior 5) to the surprising (Trenchcoat Brigade). I wish I'd been able to get down more; it's a reason for freeze-frame when the show makes it to DVD. Speaking of which, the DVD release schedule for this series is really obnoxious--three-plus volumes of four episodes each, with no season set on the horizon? That's ridiculous.

This episode contains the only use of the word "unfurled" in song that I've ever heard outside of the Pinky and the Brain theme song.

I won't spoil the climax, but I'll tell you that it contains a line that I don't think anyone ever expected to hear Batman say.

Don't tell Jay-Z, but even Batman uses auto-tune. Specifically, a "Bat auto-tuning amplifier." Now, since Jay-Z compares himself to Superman, what does this mean for the World's Finest team? Or does Batman keep the auto-tune in the same way that he holds onto the kryptonite ring, as a failsafe?

Getting back to my sudden fan amnesia, the episode ends with Black Canary lamenting her unrequited love, as Green Arrow shows up to declare his own crush on her. And so she settles for a cheerful Batman knock-off, which is funny on a variety of levels.

Bottom line: it was a fun episode, though I wish Batman had gotten a song instead of just an operatic warm-up. After all, we already know he can sing:

But I hope they're just saving that for a sequel.

---

1. Which I assume is made from a mix of bat-beef and bat-lamb, placed on a bat-pita with bat-tzatziki sauce.

Things I've learned from comics blogging

There are several things I've learned from these long years of comics blogging. Among the most significant is this bit of advice:

Chris Sims is always right.

Case in point: The Middleman. I think I managed to catch half an episode before Wizard World, but I tracked down the first two trades of the series on his recommendation (and I do mean tracked down. I think I found the only two copies at the convention, and that was after two days of looking). Naturally, it was precisely as fun and fantastic as the Invincible One's glowing reviews suggested.

Well, my extended solitary weekend gave me the chance to catch up on some of the episodes that I'd only seen bits and pieces of, and I'm even more stoked about the series now than I was before. According to the Middleblog, they've decided on a shortened season but have said emphatically that the series isn't dead (though I think I might mail in a bag of M&Ms just in case). I'm looking forward to seeing the episodes I've missed over the last couple of weeks, and I hope upon hope that there'll be another season. If you're not watching this, you should be, and if you haven't read the trade(s), then you might head on over to your local comic book establishment to put in a request. Amazon's apparently backordered, or it hasn't been released yet, or something, but it'd be a good idea to get on the waiting list.

So, for all of you savvy blogohedron denizens who already knew Sims' Maxim, maybe you can answer a question for me (the Internet has failed me so far in this regard). In the pilot episode and the fourth episode of the series, the Middleman himself is accompanies by a bit of theme music, an old-school country-western sounding jingle that goes "clean livin' was his credo, and justice was his pride." What is it from? My guess is that it's not original to the show. Anyone know its genesis?

Oh, if only the bringer of face-kickery weren't on vacation...

Libraryin' 2: Eclectic Boogaloo

Is it just me, or have my puns steadily gotten more forced and protracted over the last several years?

Anyway, I've been thinking non-stop about this Library Presentation thing, and I thank everyone who has taken the time to comment. Please, please, please keep the comments coming.

As far as my recommendation list goes, here's what I'm basically sure of so far:
Super-Hero Comics

• Blue Beetle
  
• Batgirl: Year One
  
• Fantastic Four (Imaginauts)
  
• Fantastic Four: Franklin Richards
  
• Justice League Unlimited
  
• Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century
  
• Marvel Adventures: Avengers
  
• Marvel Adventures: Iron Man
  
• Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man
  
• Power Pack
  
• Runaways
  
• Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil
  
• Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
  
• Superman: For All Seasons
  
• Superman: Up, Up, and Away
  
• Teen Titans Go!
  
• Ultimate Spider-Man
  
• X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
  
• Various Essentials (Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel?) and Showcases (Wonder Woman, Justice League of America, Superman, Supergirl, Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman).

Other Comics

• Baby Mouse
  
• Bone
  
• Mouse Guard
  
• Minx: The Plain Janes
  
• Minx: Re-Gifters
  
• Owly
  
• Scott Pilgrim
  
• Star Wars Tales

Manga

• Azumanga Daioh
  
• Inu-Yasha
  
• Naruto
  
• Sailor Moon
  
• Yotsuba&!

And here's what I'm less sure on. Most of this is stuff I've either never read, or haven't read in quite some time, so I can't remember (or don't know) how accessible or appropriate it is. I'd appreciate anything and everything that you can give me as far as quick reviews, yays and nays, or counter-recommendations. I'd like to represent as much as I can of the big guns, especially the ones with recent or upcoming movies or other media presence.

Superhero Comics

• Wonder Woman: Down to Earth (Greg Rucka trade; I'm thinking next best thing to Gail Simone)
  
• Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin (I'd like Iron Man to be well-represented on the list, but I haven't read much. I know people were excited about this when it was announced; did it turn out to be good/appropriate?)
  
• Batman and the Monster Men (haven't read it yet; how is it for the budding Bat-fan?)
  
• Other Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men trades.
  
• Other trades with some sort of diversity to 'em.

Other Comics

• Amelia Rules (what's it like?)
  
• Blue Monday (Adam Ant? I think I'm gonna have to read this!)
  
• Leave it to Chance (is it in print still?)
  
• Little Vampire
  
• Minx (What's good? I've only read the first two titles.)
  
• Patrick the Wolf Boy
  
• Queen Bee
  
• Sardine in Outer Space (what's it about?)

Manga

• Gon (I remember that this was kind of a big deal a decade ago, and I notice trades are still in print. Is it as good as the Wizard hype suggested?)
  
• Dragonball (too violent? Too graphic?)
  
• Galaxy Express 999
  
• Bleach (how's the violence?)
  
• Abenobashi
  
• What else?

I've been reading oodles (which has given me quite a bit to blog about--look for Scott Pilgrim and Re-Gifters reviews soon) for this, and I really appreciate all the advice. You've all been fantastic, and I can't thank you enough for the help. This comic book club thing is going to rock.

Oh, one more thing: I've been asked about all-ages-friendly comic sites and blogs. Obviously the company sites will make the cut, but what else?