-Hate poll, with special bonus poll content (which is actually proving more popular than the current Hate Poll--are you folks burned out on hate, or are you just big Simpsons fans? Is there untapped demand for an ongoing series of "Which Simpsons character does _______ most resemble"-type polls?).
-Trying not to be too hypocritical dept: I'm going to try to lay off the Fantagraphics-Ellison lawsuit this week, not because I've been persuaded to do so, or because I think it's not important, but because I'm kind of tired of writing about it. It's becoming my Civil War--a crutch, an invitation to lazy blogging, an impediment to the sort of non-linear thinking which has defined this blog ever since I finished writing the sentence you're reading right now. I do reserve the right to violate this self-imposed moratorium if anyone says anything interesting this week, though (not that I'm, uh, fishing for material or anything).
-I think Greg Rucka is a little disillusioned with DC. Especially Didio, who Rucka portrays as something of a buffoon. And maybe his 52 collaborators as well--here's how he describes them all:
Grant Morrison-Spacey; no attention span
Geoff Johns-The Rob Liefeld of comics writing
Mark Waid-Obsessive fan-geek
Greg Rucka-Good with thing related to the vital human experience; not so great at writing stupid outer space shit
All the same, these guys are (ugh) "rock stars" who are "at the very top of their game." Even if their games are stupid childish escapism, divorced from the cold, sports bra reality of life on the streets. Also, Civil War sucked.
-Lots of aggravation out there about Dark Horse bringing Museum of Terror to a premature close, and some questions about why this came to pass. Speaking only for myself: I don't read everything, but I do consider myself a fan of horror/suspense manga. I really didn't like the first volume of Museum of Terror, and I never considered getting the subsequent volumes. I've since heard that the quality improves dramatically at some point, but there was something about the whole Tomie concept which kind of turned me off.
-Whenever I check out the latest batch of When Fangirls Attack links, I started thinking: who are all these people blogging on Livejournal? I've never heard of any of them. They all* write stuff like "I'm giving up comics forever now that Robin is wearing red pants" or "I'm depressed but at least I have my back issues of Firestorm to remind me of that brief, shining moment when comics actually transcended their perceived limitations and became a timeless work of art/literature." They all have a bunch of comments, all left by other people of with whom I am unfamiliar.
Now I don't have any kind of prejudice against any particular blogging program/site--I chose Blogger because I'd heard of it and it seemed fairly easy to use once I signed up. In fact, I am completely unfamiliar with the hierarchy of free blogging services, assuming such a hierarchy exists. If so, are my observations re: Livejournal comics blogs consistent with Livejournal's reputation on the non-comics oriented internet? Please limit your responses to 20 words or less, as I estimate this is the limit of my interest on the subject. Thank you.
*Fun activity: find the most creative way to tell me that my blanket statement is incorrect. Bonus points for anyone who works in an amusing reference to Time on the Cross. In fact, I'll start a new sidebar category just to celebrate your achievement, called "Dick's History Buddies" or something like that.
-I'm sorry I insulted your scanner, Jonesy.
-I talked on the phone about 300 with my mom on Sunday. She brought it up. I know that this is anecdotal evidence, and some might say that the mother of two comics-obsessed lads might be more likely to broach the subject of a comics-related movie than the mother of children more obsessed with soccer or procreating up some grandchildren, but to me it's a sign that comics are here to stay no matter how badly Joe Quesada wants to destroy them.
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17 comments:
Your blanket statement is as incorrect as the antiquated notion that all slavery is bad. I mean, it's been proven that some slave owners whipped their slaves only an average of 5.1 lashes per day, as opposed to the normal amount of 14.4 lashes per day. So those people were swell human beings! See how wrong you are about slavery AND LiveJournal users?
(Sorry for the length. I haven't read Time on the Cross in years, and I don't even know if that's the Time on the Cross to which you are referring. Still, I have to get points for trying!)
The blogging system was not moribund on the eve of Civil War. There is no evidence that blogging forces alone would have soon brought Marvel to an end without the necessity of a ban or other form of monetary intervention. Quite the contrary; as the Civil War approached, blogging as a system was never stronger and the trend was toward even further entrenchment. In the end this propelled both the Livejournal faction and the blogosphere into an uneasy alliance.
I'm not averse to the Tomie concept as you are, but I do agree that the Museum of Terror series gets better as it goes. Volume 3 is the strongest out of the set, with individual stories that stand on their own without being tied into the "Tomie-verse." (Now that I've written that, I really want to see Tomie crossover with (infect) the Marvel U so we can see Tony Stark get more than he bargained for when he hits on a certain cute young Japanese schoolgirl...)
Man, Shane's is much better than mine. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to slog through that book!
I actually think Greg's comment better reflects the spirit of the book, plus Shane basically plagiarized this. Greg, would you prefer a link to your blog or CSBG?
I've never actually had to read the book, or even Herbert Gutman's response. I have been forced to read both Gutman's book on slavery (The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, IIRC), which itself is quite a slog, and Eugene Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll, which is one of the nuttiest books of non-fiction written by an ostensibly sane person I've ever read.
Since I don't talk about comics on my own blog, you should probably link to Comics Should Be Good.
Be thankful you didn't have to read it. I read it in grad school and had to read Stalin's Peasants right after. Two more boring history books I can't imagine!
Genevese's book actually seems better written compared to more rencet books on American slavery --- Philip Morgan's Slave Counterpoint was the borest of bores.
---
Robert Fogel - Ned Flanders
Herbert Gutman - Homer Simpson
Genovese - Fat Tony D'Amico
Yes, Livejournal is the lower order, looked down at from on high by the mighty mighty blogs. I would say I have no idea why, but in my heart of hearts I know.
Livejournal summed up in one word: emo.
I hope that's not too mean or anything, but it has the word "journal" (aka "diary") right in the title. Blogger is much more professional, containing the word "log". Which sci-fi magazine would you rather read, Starlog or Starjournal?
Yep, I cheated. I never read the book, but I've heard of it. Greg deserves the win.
By the way, the heirarchy of bloggers at least as far as technology goes is:
Message Board Poster
Livejournal
Free Blogger blog
Blogger running from your own server
Wordpress blog running from your own server.
Made up your own blogging software at your own server.
I don't know what would be next.
Why on earth would set up your own server, unless you're trying to brand yourself or you're really into designing websites or you actually operate a hosting company (is that the right term)? I ask this in all seriousness, cause Blogger is free and running your own server is not, right?
Yes, it would be a branding thing, and yes, it would cost money. In my case, I already had a site from my poetry days, so it wasn't a big deal. I finally decided to move to PCS, though, because the back-end stuff was becoming as time-consuming as the writing.
Wow, I have been blogging with Wordpress on my own server from the beginning, so I started out near the top of the heap! Like Guy, I started with a website and then added the blog, so I already had the server, and the cost is minimal: $70 per year for hosting, plus $15 for the domain name. My husband, who does computer stuff at work, says the real difference is that he works with a lot of hosting companies and knows who he can trust; once you have your own server, Wordpress is just software you run on it. And I have to say, Blogger people seem to complain a lot, and the service seems to go down fairly often, while I have been very satisfied with what we have. I think $85 is a small price to pay to avoid aggravation.
Sorry, I didn't see your question till now. I think Guy and Brigid answered it well enough.
There are always exceptions. Some people are perfectly fine with the free blogging templates etc. Look at people like Chris Sims, Dave Campbell, etc. They seem popular enough and they're still using blogger.
Livejournal is a hilarious pile of misery because it makes like-minded people who love thinking about Dick Grayson having gay sex so easily able to find each other and bond.
This topic was really educational and nicely written.
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