§ MK Reed is profiled in the New York Daily News:
Comic creator MK Reed, a recent Brooklyn transplant, writes, draws and edits comics. She has created many of her own titles including her first comic, “Catfight,” a story about first loves and the loss of friends, “Pale Fire” about a girl who goes on a date with an arsonist, “Cross Country,” a tale about a road trip gone wrong, and her many submissions to anthologies such as; “Papercutter,” “Unlucky,” “Project: Romantic,” and “The Girl’s Guide to Guy’s Stuff.”
§ Brian Hibbs weighs in on this week’s two topics du jour: Minx and Kirkman/Bendis:
What I always tell creators is to build their own brand, a brand of themselves, rather than hoping that the M/D brands will rub off upon them. Bendis, for example, became hotter than sin as a M/D guy, to the point where he’s one of the prime architects of the Marvel U. His sales on POWERS, meanwhile, haven’t had any appreciable bumps, relative to the book being published by Image — at least not the kind you’d hope for when you can say “FROM THE WRITER OF SECRET INVASION!” (or whichever) on the cover, y’know? Either way, “his” brand is inextricably tied with Marvel’s brand right now.
§ Tucker Stone will never be allowed to roam the halls of a con again as he sees, listens, overhears, and snarks on all sorts of things. For instance, a journo turning down lunch with the head of a popular comics imprint in favor of staying to post a story:
While I don’t want to denigrate the way Mr. Brady does his job — and his dedication to getting the information from the DC panel up as quickly as he did is admirable — his refusal of face time with one of comic books’ most well-known figures bewildered me. If there’s one thing DC fans would kill to read more about, it’s what Dan Didio has to say when he’s not stuck in front of a microphone answering questions about when there will be a new mini-series featuring the Suicide Squad. But hey–that’s probably why he writes full time about comics. I’m just a guy who didn’t know a button-up shirt was going to make me overdressed.
§ Rob Clough previews SPX with Five Artists To Seek Out At SPX ’08 including Leslie Stein, JULIACKS, Will Dinski (right), Molly Lawless and Jesse Reklaw.
§ Ed Howard has a list of 10 Ideal Books to Introduce Readers to Comics that’s notable for sticking to either challenging literary stuff (ACME, CURSES) or smart, funny pop comics (MADMAN, COWBOY WALLY).
§ Several people sent us this link to the uses of journalism in comics and so here it is:
There are a couple of things that got me excited. First, I just find it visually engaging. Next, it involves an unusual collaboration between comic book artists, a blogger, and online developers to produce something distinct. On a personal level, it warmed my heart that a “newspaper” was trying something this daring. Some folks may shrug, or dismiss it because it involves comics. But while I’ve never been much of a comic book reader myself, I’ve seen some amazing uses of the form to produce some really interesting journalism in recent years.
§ Finally, Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog responds to Tom Spurgeon’s comics collection meme with his own list of 25, that has stuff like:
1. The Mod Gorilla Boss
7. One, and Only One, Issue of Pizzazz
Yes and yes!
Re: the “50 Essentials” list–
I dun 1 2.
*PREEN* Got most of them!
*SULK* Gotta get the others!
While not playing the game, I’d include:
a smattering of DC Digests (extra points scored if you include one “Best of the Year” issue).
at least one treasury edition or stand-alone-issue featuring crossovers between two company’s characters.
one prose novel about superheroes which isn’t based on a licensed character.
an obscure trade paperback or mass market title that is so good and so rare that you buy up any copies you find, just in case something happens to the other copy.
one prose novel about superheroes which crosses into other genres.
a guilty pleasure. Superhero gorilla stories. Red Kryptonite. Celebrity appearances in Marvel Comics. Licensed characters in educational comics. Licensed characters appearing in freebie comics promoting another product. Superhero time travelers meeting famous people.
comicstrip collections introduced by famous people. (B.C. by Rod Serling)
a low-budget or foreign superhero movie. Extra points if you made the movie in your backyard with a video or 8mm camera.
a home-brewed video collection of your favorite cartoon. Extra points if commercials are included.
a completely worthless copy of a comicbook you value so much that you keep it in a mylar sleeve.
Geez… this is beginning to sound like a comicbook Purity Test! “Have you ever dressed up in a superhero costume? Have you and your date worn complementary superhero costumes?”