Monday
Jul302007
Dollar Bin 47: Real World Media Coverage
Monday, July 30, 2007 
Every major form of entertainment has its own industry media and news coverage and comics are no exception. But how is comic book industry news handled outside of those boundaries by the main stream press? In this weeks show, the Dollar Bin Action News Team takes a look at what passes for mainstream comics coverage.
Reader Comments (11)
Once again, good show guys.
To me a good comic to hold up as an example of modern comics is Gotham Central. As an idea it works, showing a police department working through more mundane problems as well as the more Batman orientated crazy crap that they deal with in the back of the batman books.
League of Extraordinary gentlemen was a cool piece, I have both volumes of the trade and despite the horrific movie I think Alan Moore is one of the more creative people in comics.
Identity Crisis put humanity into comic characters, making them appeal to those who havent read a comic in years.
Just to make one more small point, despite what some said about Superman Returns (I loved it) My mum watched it, then rewatched it when I put it on once, and thinks it is a really good film.
My dad really likes it too. I'm afraid to see it.
I gave Superman Returns a 7/10. Enjoyable to sit through, but nowhere near as good as it should have been. Definitely not an X-Men or Spider-Man. I don't think it was horrible...just not really worth buying or watching again.
Great podcast!
I think though, if I were to pick out something that represented comics today, I'd pick something non-superhero. Don't get me wrong - Batman's what got me into comics, and I still love some throwdown with the capes. And I understand that if you look at what's popular and what's making money, superhero books are probably still pulling in the green; but just look at Previews and the plethora of genres you've got covered. I think I'd pick something like Ex Machina. Well-written, accessible, topical. Just a great all-around comic. And talking about creators - Brian K. Vaughan. I've heard good things about Pride of Baghdad, but haven't picked it up - has anyone read it?
And speaking of media around comics, and Joss Whedon (btw, there's no "H" in his name :) ), Buffy the Vampire Slayer got some pretty good coverage when Season 8 (in comics) came out. I know at least there was an article in EW. I hear that Angel and Veronica Mars might be doing the same thing.
I saw Tek Jansen in Previews when it came out, and just rolled my eyes when I saw it compared to The Tick. I'm glad to hear my prognostications were somewhat accurate.
I also almost special-ordered The Ride, but I was stretching my wallet too thin that month and didn't get it.
Finally, I did pick up the Nightly News trade based on Dollar Bin buzz. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Now, when are they going to collect Pirates of Coney Island?
Oh, and I'll agree with Nic; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was awesome.
But I can't agree about the Lost Girls stuff. C'mon - that's just porn, and a step backwards for comics.
And BTW, Tre - cool reference to I Come In Peace.
SWEET! Nobody who was there even got it! I feel totally vindicated right now. Jim saves me again.
Ex Machina is a worthy comic, and one well suited to real world attention. I'm a complete Tony Harris homer, dating back to his association with Starman. I think this title would be a great starting point for an uninitiated comic reader.
Don't judge Lost Girls too harshly. Porn? Yes. But any comic story that isn't men in tights serves to show the possibilities of the format. Who would think comics could get you off? And if comics can get you off, what else could they do? Where else could they take your mind?
I'm ashamed to have forgotten Astro City. This has been one of my favorite titles as long as it has existed, but the irrregular release scheduling has made it hard to keep up with. It's definitely a title to read in trades, tho.
I don't think the last issue of Pirates has come out yet. If it did then I missed it, but it wouldn't be the first time Acme didn't get my Pirates to me.
I forgot all about the Buffy buzz. Good mention.
I really want to read Pride of Bahgdad, but I have this thing about Hardcovers, so hopefully it will hit paper.
I think we all know there is no "h" in Joss, but when you are talking really fast and follow it with the "Wh" sound it hard to keep that "h" out of there.
The only similarity Tek has to Tick is maybe the proportions of the art style.
Yeah, Ride was expensive. It was one of theose I didn't notice until I got to the counter things and I'd feel like a tool if I put it back.
As far as the Tights vs. NY mayor thing: The reason I went with AS and AX is because I was looking for something that represented the mainstream comics tights fans (which there are mostly of) and was still accessible to others. I love E-M, but I know some people who don't really get it and they are not just tights guys. They also enjoy things like Y. I was gonna go with Y, but as I said I was thinking accessible tights. IF I dropped that stipulation I'd a gone with Y.
PS: Devin doesn't like E-M
I just listened to the mini-casts and just wanted to mention that History of Violence was a graphic novel. I thought From Hell was, but just read on Wikipedia that it was serialized in an anthology first.
Oddly enough, 300 was also a mini published by Dark Horse starting in 1998 - it wasn't collected in HC until '99.
10 more points for Jim!
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/do-all-our-superheroes-have-to-be-blokes/2007/08/06/1186252625020.html
Dont know if it really counts as "main stream" but it is one of the larger papers in Australia.
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