Saluting the United States of Tara
Finished up the third and final season of United States of Tara today.
Yes, I’m on a Diablo Cody binge right now. Decided to give it a spin after having mixed feelings regarding Young Adult and to a certain extent – Jennifer’s Body and Juno. I just might be the only person on the internet that didn’t really have a problem with Jennifer’s Body. In fact, as a horror fan, I thought it was spoofy and high fun. It seemed to both mock and alternately love the horror genre in ways few flicks manage to get right.
The Ginger Snaps comparisons are lost on me. I’ve seen both and didn’t once think of Ginger Snaps while watching Jennifer’s Body. If anything, I thought of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. All the goobery dialogue and tongue-in-cheekness there.
Also – how hard does a female writer have to work to get some respect up in H-Town ya’ll? She won a damned Academy Award and at least two characters she helped script have either won major awards or been nominated (possibly a third depending how Young Adult fares). And still, she gets a ton of e-hate and bitchy comments cause she stripped for a year or something. I don’t even know. But it totally has nothing to do with her gender or anything. Carry on.
Back to United States of Tara: The show is about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) leading a suburban life in Kansas, raising two children with her husband who is a self-employed landscaper.
Cody’s skills as a creator and writer are on fine display here. I was wary approaching it – a bit burnt out on mental illness as comedy fodder, or reality TV fodder, or fodder in general.
What struck me? In the same way that Juno struck me? The mid-west normalcy. The harkening back to classic TV shows that I identified with in my youth, like Roseanne. A family living together using sarcasm, humor and love to sustain themselves. Only mental illness fills the role of economic hardship as the main struggle in the lives of the Gregsons.
Nerd Bucket List
Originally had planned to write a recap of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena but that will have to be put on hold. Instead, I bring you something that immediately inspired me as soon as I saw it.The Nerd Bucket List.
It was actually brought to my attention by another female comic book enthusiast who goes by the name of Jill The Nerdy Bird and guest writes for Newsarama.com. She penned up an article there with her own very specialized Nerd Bucket List as opposed to one that must be adhered to by all nerds.
So, you probably guessed by now that the remainder of this entry is going to be about my own personal Nerd Bucket List. The very exciting thing is that I’ve managed to cross off quite a few things on the list already! These are in no particular order or sequence, as all things are equally important to a nerd like me. 😉
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MINDY’S NERD BUCKET LIST
Meet Katee Sackhoff and Edward James Olmos. Obviously – she is my female heroine idol and it would be the shining moment of my days to shake her hand and tell her that she totally changed my perception of what a female heroine could be with her performance. I would also HAVE to ask her, “What do you hear Starbuck?” Because no one
Starbuck and Adama. My two favorites!
has ever asked her that before. 😉 And Edward James Olmos is like the Grandpa I never had. His gravelly voice and reading glasses and general demeanor are as comforting as a glass of warm milk. I’m especially excited to learn that he might return to the BSG Exhibit in Seattle this year for another script reading. I’m so there.
Visit NYC and lurk outside the Marvel Office. They don’t do regular tours, but I can still be a creeper and maybe snap a few pictures with an editor or something out on the street. Or maybe contact them ahead of time and see if a tour is possible. Or rewind time back to 1998 and be this kid.
Cosplay as a sexy superhero. This is probably something that should be done before I turn 30 (so like, next year) because after 30 I’ve decided is the cut-off for any kind of sexy cosplay. Please time, do not make a liar of me. I don’t know though – Steampunk has made dressing up in costume at any age a work of art, so that might be the loophole in the future. Not sure what superheroine I would like to attempt. I’ve done Rogue before for a superhero party and all that hair dyeing was such a hassle. Any suggestions?
Participate in Thrill The World in full zombie regalia. At least once. Complete with zombie eye contacts and a clever costume.
Obtain a comic book artist portrait. That sounds so ridiculous, but I’ve always fantasized about becoming a comic book character. Not sure what the process would entail either – probably scouting out a decent picture and passing it off to the artist at a convention. Thinking Pablo Raimondi, Pia Guerra or Joelle Jones. Unless someone has an alternate suggestion?
Join or lead a geeky volunteer group. Like the PDX Browncoats. As mentioned before, this would unite my passion for contributing to the community AND displaying geekery in all it’s glory. Plus meeting and hanging out with a group of like-minded folks. Hopefully that can be checked off in the near future!
Alex Maleev sketch, Scarlet Witch
Sketch from Alex Maleev. Dude, he lives here in Portland but I haven’t seen him attending one convention in the last year. He was even noticeably absent at SDCC. What gives? He is elusive as fuck, which makes a sketch from him about as prized as a Unicorn horn.
Sit inside the cockpit of a Colonial Viper. It wasn’t just enough to SEE them. Seriously. It’s the equivalent to some fans of LOOKING at the Millenium Falcon. Want to touch! Want to see what it would look like if I was flying through space, blasting some frakin’ toasters. So say we all!
Create a comic book. I’m no artist, but I’ve dabbled in all forms of writing save one (or two) and it seems especially strange given my passion for comics. How hard would it be to work up a script? Probably not that difficult. The scary part would be in finding an artist who would be willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears to see those words brought to life.
Meet Joss Whedon AND Brian K. Vaughn. The last of the comic book scribes whose work has inspired and thrilled me over the years. They are both hugely talented and the opportunity to shake their hands or stare at them obsessively while my mind goes helplessly blank and my knees give way would be truly special.
Complete all Assassin’s Creed games with 100% achievements. Just cause.
Finish up the Phoenix Tattoo in the next two years. Provided both the DH and I can find stable employment situations. Have had to reschedule twice now, so London no doubt thinks I’m a flake. But I don’t intend to have a half-finished tattoo on my body forever.
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BUCKET LIST ITEMS ALREADY COMPLETED
Attend San Diego Comic Con At Least Once. This was listed as one of the top items on the collaborative nerd bucket list, so I believe I can safely assume the mantle of nerd for the rest of my days – having traveled to the geek mecca and survived the eye-gouging dangers of Hall H and witnessed the glory that was the Avengers Panel (even if we were in the back row and it was on the jumbo-tron). Check out the recap of SDCC 2010 starting here.
Jayne Cobb Hat: Installment One
My work and non-work life have been rather busy the last few days but I’ve also managed to successfully undertake what, for me, has been a rather complex knitting project.
Adam Baldwin proudly models the original
It should all be so easy. The hat itself isn’t exactly a paragon of difficulty. There are several well made patterns out there on the internets ripe for the picking. I just need the right yarn and tools. One out of two ain’t bad, right?
I went with one of the Jayne Hat recipients – the DH Dan – last weekend to pick out the yarn. And we got the wrong weight. And the colors are a bit off (but actually look quite fantastic together). It’s like a fall in the Pacific Northwest version of the Jayne hat. Which might actually look much sexier than the intention of the original.
Unfortunately in the knitting world, if you don’t follow the pattern exactly, you have to adjust and swatch and do math…all of which I am really quite opposed to. My answer is to eyeball it, knit something up, then find out it’s wrong, rip it all out and start over again. Ugh.
Which leaves me with my present predicament.
Jayne Hat w/o Earflaps
This is my third attempt at the Jayne Hat. It’s supposed to be for my DH, but it’s really only going to make it on my head. Which is fine. I think I’m going to make a stop by our LYS this weekend and snag some really amazing yarn in the right (bulky) weight and follow the advice/practices in this here Youtube video:
And this basic pattern – though I won’t be knitting with two strands held together once I’ve secured the right weight.
At the moment, the plan is to finish off the current Jayne hat incarnation and wear it for myself. It was intended for Dan’s head, but I don’t think my needles are going to support that. Probably gonna have to pick up some new needles as well.
Earflaps are tough for me. After a traumatic attempt at them on a hat for my niece…I haven’t tried them again. Apparently I have some weird emotional and mental block against them. It’s going to take some strong coaxing but once I get the skillz practiced, I think this will make a good starter hat for many more Jayne attempts to come.
Feeling kinda lame that I devoted my whole weekend (when I wasn’t at a baseball game, book-club meeting, house-cleaning or visiting with family) to this creation and still didn’t manage to get anything finished. Hmph.
Hopefully I’ll be able to update with the finished object this weekend.
LINK LOVE
In the interim, check out these articles I scouted about Joss Whedon related crafts, including an interview he did with a crochet website.
– CrochetMe article on Whedon Craft
– CrochetMe interview with Joss Whedon
– Other Joss Whedon related crafts
JAYNE HAT PATTERNS GALORE
Comic Con 2010: Day Four
There were only three main goals for the Con on Day 4 – the Women of Marvel Panel and to secure Robert Kirkman and Peter David’s signature (and nerdily gush to them about how much I love their work).
We arose at a reasonable Comic Con hour of 8am, stuffed our crap into bags, checked out and grabbed our last poorly organized shuttle to the Convention Center (screw you National City Holiday Inn, screw you!).
The aftermath of a week at Comic Con
We lugged our bags immediately to Bag Check, marveling at the eerily empty Hall H line. Once checked, we scuttled over to a 2/3s empty room for the Women of Marvel panel. I wanted this to be one of the highlights of the convention.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t.
THE WOMEN OF MARVEL PANEL
It started out on a pretty good note, and the questions were mostly all supportive, engaging and informative. The featured guests (from left to right in the photo below) are Kathryn Immonen, Judy Stephens, Marjorie Liu, Laura Martin and Christina Strain.
The Women of Marvel panel
However, it started to unravel towards the end when Strain (who up to that point had been my favorite panelist) uttered the fateful words “primarily men read superhero comics.” It was in the last five or so minutes of the panel, and I desperately wanted to know why the panelists (aka MARVEL) think that is the case. These are women in the superhero industry, working inside of the major publishing companies. They have an opportunity to explore that assumption, turn it on it’s head and invite more women back into the superhero world.
Yes, I say BACK. I think there was a time when superhero books were for women, but I think we’ve been shoved out in the last decade by publishing companies that fail (like so many other entertainment venues) to recognize the female audience as existing.
It’s fucking offensive to purchase a Comic Con ticket, spend four days walking around with an equal mix of male and female nerds and then be told by a woman who works for Marvel that as far as their concerned, I am not a relevant factor in their mainstream books. WTF!?!?
Perhaps it was my exhaustion, frustration with the Avengers movie cast and general disposition towards the unfair and untrue assumption that superhero books are for boys, but I found myself seething in anger by the end of the panel. Especially since the last two questions were essentially “why does there need to be a woman of marvel panel?”
It’s a totally valid question, which none of the women addressed. They were simply shilling how “good times” and “equal opportunity” the Marvel world is…when that’s absolutely not the perception by the fanbase. The studs that get trotted out of the stable and posted all over the Top 10 Famous Comic Book Creators are primarily men.
OK, so maybe they weren’t there to address the under-representation of female characters in comic books. I can understand that. I was completely fine with learning more about them as artists and perhaps finding myself compelled to pick up some of their work.
But the can of worms was opened (interestingly enough, by two male questioners) and it was not handled well or honestly.
The Women of Marvel panel exists because there are very few women artists in the spotlight in the comic book industry, and there are lots of women reading comic books who want to know more about women creating comic books.
It doesn’t matter at this point. I feel quite defeated. By the time I had worked up the nerve and frustration – I didn’t get to ask my question and the panel ended 10 minutes early and tons of families and children were entering for the Hot Wheels panel immediately following.
Basically, the last 10 minutes erased a lot of the progress and interesting points being raised by the women (especially about how creepy some comic book shops can be). There was even an awesome moment where a comic book shop proprietor asked how he could be more inclusive of women. I thought the panelists did a great job of answering that question.
But fuck. I mean…I spent a lot of money, time and energy to attend this event and make myself known as a fan (and a Marvel fan) to the industry, but it’s clear to me at this point that women (minorities as well) are still so back of the bus in mainstream comic books it’s enough to make me want to give up on mainstream books completely.
So yeah…that kinda put a damper on the next 20 minutes or so, but then things turned around when I spotted Jo Chen and Andy Owens signing at the Dark Horse booth. We got Andy Owens signature on our Buffy #1 (it’s my goal to get the signatures of everyone featured on that issue) and Jo Chen signed our Dark Horse autograph book. I wanted to chat with her a bit, but the line was long and we needed to rush over to Peter David.
Comic Con 2010: Day One + Preview Night
PREVIEW NIGHT
We boarded our flight around 8:45am Wednesday and arrived in San Diego around 11:45am. Then had to wait for the free hotel shuttle for an hour, which was fine because it gave us an opportunity to eat what would be our only substantial meal until nearly 10pm that night.
We dropped off our luggage, printed up our tickets and hopped a trolley around 2pm to the convention center to pick up our badges.
San Diego Trolley < Portland MAX
The registration process itself was fairly quick and easy. Then we were herded like cattle into a line to moo over the master schedule and play a few hands of rummy.
The massively insane lines for Preview Night
Three hours (and some confusion, expensive water and frozen yogurt later), and we entered the Preview Night exhibit hall. Not first…but not exactly last.
There was a mad rush to hit up certain booths (Marvel! WB!) and I stopped off at Boom! Studios to pick up a limited edition Dark Wing Duck comic for a friend of a friend. Erin scooped up a ton of free items, but I was quite overwhelmed by the lines and people and mostly tried to steer clear of death by crushing.
Death by crushing might look something like this
We ended up finding The Guild booth and got autographs from the entire cast. They were all so absolutely gorgeous! Sandeep Parikh complimented my tattoo and Felicia Day also ogled and touched my arm. It was definitely my joy moment for the day, year and life!
About half of the Guild Cast. Sexy Felicia Day!
Next we stopped off at the Webcomics area. Addie chatted and snagged a picture with the guy who creates Dinosaur comics. That was her joy moment.
Finally, we hit up the Browncoats booth and along the way Erin discovered a dude with a Vampire Diaries swag bag, which he nonchalantly traded off and ended up making her day.
After that we were exhausted and took the trolley back to the hotel, then hopped a cab to an In-n-Out Burger down the street. Totally worth it.
Her swag bag is bigger than yours.
San Diego Comic Con 2010: The Schedule
The entire schedule for San Diego Comic Con 2010 is now posted on the website, and Smalls and I frantically updated our Google Doc schedule all weekend until it’s in a relative semblance of order.
Diagnosis: Comic Con = Too Much Good.
There is no way humanly possible to do or see all that one would like at this event. Despite this setback, we have cobbled together what we’d like to see, and surprise, surprise, most of it isn’t about comic books at all.
No wait, why isn’t that surprising? Because Comic Con is almost not really about comic books anymore. It’s largely dominated by Film and TV, along with video games and whatever other popular culture elements I cannot fathom at the moment.
And that, sadly, is fine by me. I’ve got enough comic book goodness up here in the Pacific Northwest to sate me. What I want from SDCC, as honestly as I can describe it – is to see some celebrities up close and personal and watch exclusive clips and get some free shit and soak up some sun and record as much of it as I possibly can.
I’ll be updating often on this blog and the Tiny Heroes Twitter account for anyone who is interested.
You can also look at My Schedule (along with alternate panels) here.
Wednesday July 21, Preview Night
– Walking the exhibit floor, getting freebies from booths, etc.
Thursday July 22 – Hall H
– 10am-11am = Megamind
– 11:15-12:45 = Tron
– 1:00-2:00 = Battle Los Angeles/Salt
– 2:15-3:15 = Red
– 3:30-4:30 = Visionaries (Joss Whedon/JJ Abrams)
-4:45-5:45 = Expendables
– 6:00-7:00 = Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
– 7:30-8:30 = Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog
Friday July 23- Ballroom 20
– 11:30-12:30 = Caprica
– 3:00-4:00 = The Joss Whedon Experience
– 4:00-5:00 = Girls Who Kick Ass
– 5:15-6:15 = True Blood
Comic Con Documentary Audition Video
Is live online now – come get some! 😉
The Week in Geek
A clearing-house of geek activities and news for the week.
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SAN DIEGO COMIC CON DOCUMENTARY 2010
For some reason, yours truly thought it would be a good idea to submit a story and photo to the casting director of the 2010 Comic Con Documentary. Perhaps it was the allure of Joss Whedon and Stan Lee. One can never REALLY know.
It was sent off Saturday – got a phone call back on Monday, and conducted the telephone interview on Wednesday. We’ve been asked to submit an audition tape by no later than July 2nd – stressing our intentions for Comic Con and why they should follow us around.
How crazy is that? I have a feeling that my giant comic book tattoo has something to do with it. Probably also my intention to photograph and/or take video of people with comic book tattoos for either one really awesome post here on the blog, or to create a webpage. Not sure yet. But it’s on my list of things to do.
AND: We will be dressing up in costume. I kinda gave up on the Hit Girl cosplay idea. Something about wearing leather in the sweltering climate of Southern California in late July. Instead, I’ve chosen a far less nerdier angle – BSG characters. Both Dan and I. Already ordered our dog tags (Apollo and Starbuck, respectively) – just have to put together the off-duty uniforms . Nothing that would attract a ton of attention, but I like the idea of paying homage to one of my favorite television series without donning a screaming purple wig. OK – I’m also getting a bit too old for cosplay. I’ll admit it. I think late 20s or early 30s should be the cut off, unless you’re a model.
Our friend Smalls is going as a Merlotte’s waitress one of the days, so I thought I’d try donning some Fangtasia apparel – to balance it out. We are initiating True Blood Tuesdays and might even pick up some Tru Blood bottles to drink out of.
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X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
James McAvoy has finally dispelled all those Hobbit rumors, and he’s now signed up to play a young Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class – a prequel to the first four films in the series. It will be directed by Matthew Vaughn of Kick-Ass fame and penned by Jane Goldman. Aside from knowing that yes, the young man can act – the next big question is, can he pull off the part? There’s going to be all sorts of continuity baggage, because Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen played digitally altered younger versions of their Xavier and Magneto characters in at least two X-Films already. So presumably McAvoy will be a much younger version of Xavier, and won’t be interacting with the X-Teens at all. OR WILL HE!? No one knows.
I was a bit “meh” at first – thinking McAvoy and Stewart look nothing alike. But I did a little facial comparison, and I think they can pull it off. The only weird thing is now I have raging boner for Professor X, which is not OK. There was never a moment, nor should there ever be a moment where I’m sexually attracted to Professor Xavier. But I can’t help the sexy. Guess that might change when I bear witness to a bald McAvoy. 
ALSO: Runaways looks like it’s actually going to take shape, because it gained a screenwriter this week. Not sure why the original series creator/writer, Brian K. Vaughn, wasn’t tasked for the job – since he writes comic books AND wrote for several years on Lost. *shrug*
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SCARLET PREVIEW
Brian Michael Bendis seems like a pretty cool dude, and I’ve been trying now for several months to find a body of his work that I enjoy. It started to be Spider-Woman, but then that series quickly fizzled out. I’ve picked up the first TPB of Powers, and it’s alright so far…but I’m not completely blown away by the misogynist bits clustered here and there. But I do LOVE the art of Alex Maleev, and I’m a sucker for a red-head with guns. So, when Bendis unveiled the Scarlet Preview on Twitter yesterday…I knew that I would definitely need to start collecting this series from it’s infancy.
I’m sold on the artwork already. I would probably pick up almost anything Maleev does at the moment. I haven’t been this attracted to the artwork of an artist in my entire history with comic books. So – having a female centric book helps, with a writer that seems competent and who I am desperately trying to connect with in some work of art or another.
Barriers this book will have to surpass in order for me to give it a passing mark – it will have to be much more than a male action hero with breasts. It will need to feature at least more than one woman on its pages. It would be even better if the two women actually liked one another. You can see I’m still skeptical about this, but anxious to delve into a creator owned series. Those are like my bread and butter. Mmmm.
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That’s it for the moment. This weekend will be condo remodeling intense again – but I picked up a few books from the comic shop yesterday and I’m unveiling a month-long project for June which will hopefully be interesting and entertaining.
Spreading the Link Love: 4/08/2010
Not enough for a full article, but important enough to avoid a simple one-liner on Twitter.
1. Painted Ladies: On Tats and Trashiness
Having had a large and highly visible tattoo on my arm for the last two years – I’ve had my fair share of compliments, insults and insults disguised as compliments. These have ranged from burly biker dudes, tween girls and middle-aged women. Specifically in that order.
I get that people are full of opinions, and having prominently displayed body art leaves you vulnerable to hearing said opinions of anyone passing on the street. But terms like “trashy” and “low-class” used as descriptors for people (women especially) are exceedingly classist, and are generally lobbed from people with advanced opportunities and education against those who are not so well-situated in life.
While it’s all fine and good to personally eschew tattoos, piercings, hair dye, eating meat, blowjobs, whatever – thinking you have the right to approach strangers and share your unsolicited opinions is pure and utter bullshit. But that’s part of the territory, and as a body art enthusiast, something I’ve come to love/hate about the permanent change I’ve made to myself. And it’s kinda worth it when sexy Battlestar Galactica actors compliment and touch your arm. Mmmm. 😉
2. Chris Claremont Unveils X-Women
While normally I’d reserve my ire until I actually read this 46 page graphic novel…just the few preview pics are enough to make me shake my head in bitter disgust. Whenever I consider how the X-Women might spend their leisure time, or what sort of female bonding they’d do when they have the chance, I automatically think – bikinis and jet skis!
I’m not being sensitive. Truly. Or even over-reacting. This is me completely under-reacting to this news. What else could I possibly say? Pretty sure the art-work by Milo Manara and Claremont’s statements speak for themselves. What they say to me: yeah, we’re totally being sexist dicks and completely disregarding at least 50% of the X-Men fanbase, but WHO CARES? Did you see the Tits and Ass on Rogue? Fuuuuck Yeaaaah!
But in case I misconstrued their statement, here’s the artwork:
And quote:
“We’re speaking primarily to an audience that may not be as religiously familiar with the American canon in terms of characters and the world itself, so you want to create a physical environment that is accessible to the broadest possible collection of readers.”
Speaking for themselves.
3. Joss Whedon on Short List to Direct Avengers
That’s the rumor these days kiddies. That, along with Bryan Singer now ONLY producing X-Men: First Class is some of the biggest comic book movie news to hit in the last few weeks. How do we all feel about Joss Whedon putting his rumpled ass in the Director’s seat for one of Marvel’s biggest franchise movies?
Uncertain – at worst. He has proven that he can wield a deft hand with ensemble casts, but he’s always had the fortune of being the one to assemble them (there’s a nerdy Avengers Assemble joke in there somewhere). This cast has been hand-picked by several directors who’ve come before him.
As the DH, Dan Robertson, also pointed out in one of our incredibly nerdy/fan-freak conversations – Whedon would have the task of directing and managing some Actors (with a capital A) that are notoriously difficult to work with in Hollywood. Specifically Edward Norton and Robert Downey Jr. I worry more about Norton, than RDJ. Whedon knows how to mine the comedic for the tragic quite easily, and I feel like he would have no problem coaxing golden performances out of RDJ and Chris Evans.
Also rumored to be in the running – Louis Leterrier (le terrier? Really?) and I’m putting at least some weight behind Jon Favreau, although his helming Ironman is most certainly a nice bid for Whedon. Favreau sort of came out of left field like – WTF, THAT guy? The SWINGERS GUY?
And pulled off one of the more successful Marvel franchise film series. Christopher Nolan also dicks around with smaller independent fare, and has done well with his Batman flicks. So – why not Whedon? Just cause Dollhouse and Firefly? Come on dudes, Buffy, Serenity and Astonishing X-Men. That’s like, three pieces of awesome versus only two bomb TV Shows (which have spastic cult followings of their own).
It’s hard out there for a pimp. All’s we are saying, is give Whedon a chance. Maybe he’ll force them to include at least ONE FUCKING WOMAN in the Avengers. Spider-Woman? Ms. Marvel? She-Hulk? He’s Joss Whedon, champion of awesome women. He’s like the golden ticket for inclusion of female characters. *fingers crossed on that one*
But he could do Runaways instead. Which would fit his M.O. more solidly – it’s got super-powered teen girls kicking ass. And would make my nerd heart cry, cause I know that dramatically decreases the chances of any “strong” female presence on the Avengers team. But, yay him. Dudes got bigger fish to fry outside of some wobbly television series with Fox.
That’s all she wrote…for now…
COMING UP NEXT: Kick-Ass Movie and Graphic Novel Review
Sugarshock and Dark Horse Presents
The first encounter with Sugarshock by Joss Whedon took place entirely online. No…I didn’t steal it from teh internetz. It was offered up FREE of charge at Dark Horse Comics Myspace Presents way back in 2007. It’s still available in back issues of the online publication.
What lead to the discovery of Sugarshock was actually following Carolyn Main, a local Portland artist and HS friend of my DH. Who is now my internet friend. Though we have yet to meet in person I do stalk her through the cyber-webs and followed a link she’d posted one day – which spit me out at Dark Horse Presents, and into the arms of some lovely comic book fare.
MySpace is sort of like Friendster now…in that nobody uses it. I’ve actually deleted my page because it was way too wide open to the public…and I never used it. Which leaves the obvious question – how long Dark Horse will be using this medium to publish previews and one-offs. It looks like they already took a month break while Myspace laid off a crap ton of it’s staff, and in the interim published the content on the official Dark Horse site. This seems like a better landing spot than having folks access the material on a venue that is rapidly becoming obsolete.
I don’t particularly care for webcomics. There, I said it. I want my comic content published in print. But there is something refreshing about previewing content online or publishing a one-shot on the web. It’s the freedom to fully browse the book you generally don’t get in a comic shop. Smart stuff.
However, entirely online comics can be confusing and frustrating for a collector. Especially if we find something we genuinely like and will want to read more than once – or prominently display on our bookshelves. To resolve the despair of folks who feel more comfortable with a solid literary object in our hands (re: will NEVER own a Kindle) – Dark Horse prints and distributes some of it’s online content.
The actual Sugarshock book appeared on the shelves in October 2009, nearly a full two years after it appeared online. And since I’d already read and loved it in the ethers, when I was at Floating World Comics the other day – I snatched it off the shelves and purchased it.
What’s so wonderful about this book? It has a zany, off-the-wall humor which Whedon hasn’t unveiled since the early days of Buffy, and makes for a fun, quick read. It features a mostly female cast (with a robot dude thrown in for good measure). It’s about a rock band battle in outer space. The title makes me think of “Soft Shock” from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
If you loved that one – check out the acoustic version.
Oh, and Sugarshock is an Eisner Award Winner. This was back in 2008, which was the year of Joss in comics (Astonishing X-Men, Buffy and Angel all rolling along).
Dan
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Tiny Heroes 
