Drawing Down the Moon
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As an art book, the appeal is seeing Vess’ amazing fantasy images in detail, lingering over their beauty. But in case you’re not familiar with his work or are curious about just what’s in the book, you can read the whole thing online. That’s a great way to let customers try it out without cannibalizing sales, since the art book market won’t find online images a suitable substitute for the print book.

Gownley DJs

Jimmy Gownley, creator of Amelia Rules, did a guest spot as DJ for a radio station that’s a must-listen for any fan of his comic. (It’s about 12 minutes of time.) He talks about his model for my favorite cast member, Amelia’s Aunt Tanner, and plays one of my favorite songs ever, Melissa Ferrick’s “Happy Song”, “about being happy but there’s an anger to it”, as an inspiration for Amelia’s character. Plus he says very insightful things about Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello and creativity and storytelling.

Losing the Experienced Reviewers

Why it’s so hard to make a career of reviewing: fans hate you, PR people attempt to manipulate you, and writers leave for the publicity business because that’s the only way they can make any money. The author is talking about video game reviewing, but his question, “Is this still a viable occupation — financially and spiritually — for adults? Was it ever?” is equally valid for comics.

The answer, in most cases, is “no”. That’s why people like me do this as side work to day jobs, whether related (freelance writing of other kinds) or less so (in my case, software testing). So what’s the big deal? Here’s his summary:

… there is a craft to writing about games. And that craft only comes from having years of experience; from rolling up your sleeves, paying your dues, and honing your critical instincts. Yet our oldest, most valued craftsmen and craftswomen are slowly being exiled. … These are the people who defined the very vocation from which they can no longer make a living.

1. Readers, when made aware of the situation, want to know if a reviewer got something for free, especially when it comes to a recommendation as to how the reader spend her money. Based on this one comment, public relations folks want the reviewer to be honest as well.

2. It’s the good folks, the trustworthy ones, who are up in arms about the perceived double standard (since disclosure rules don’t apply to traditional media: print, TV, etc.). That ignores just how much abuse there was going on, in terms of lots and lots of freebies, adding up to serious money, that wasn’t being revealed. If someone got a free trip to Disneyland and then wrote about what a great place it was to take your family on vacation without saying they didn’t pay, I’d find that unethical. (Since I’m getting ready to take a Disney World trip, I’ve been using sources that are clear about spending their own money to research their books and websites. Which gets back to point one.) If the blogverse didn’t have such bad apples in some corners, this wouldn’t have been necessary. It’s very unfortunate that the good ones are the ones most upset by this, because the unethical won’t pay attention to it anyway.

3. It is a double standard, and I fully support all media being required to reveal free gifts and comps. But that’s unlikely to happen, because the more traditional media is older and has more pull in making the rules.

4. Not all bloggers object to this. In the NY Times article, a mommy blogger says:

“I think that bloggers definitely need to be held accountable,” said Ms. Young. “I think there is a certain level of trust that bloggers have with readers, and readers deserve to know the whole truth.”

Although she also said that “if she doesn’t like a product, she simply won’t write about it,” so she’s not looking to get off the gravy train, either.

Some have raised the spectre of paying tax on review copies and Amazon link revenue. Small businesses, which include blogs and websites as soon as the owner demonstrates a profit motive, should already be paying tax on income from advertising and Amazon payments. I look forward to seeing official guidelines, if released, on how to treat review copies, although I think they most likely fall under “gifts”, not income. (Disclaimer: I am not an accountant.)

While I’m quoting, if you’re looking for an example of why some people find review copy revelations obnoxious, check out Chris Butcher’s post. And it worked — I’m jealous he’s got a copy of What a Wonderful World and I don’t. (I’m teasing him, of course. Because I’m flattered he linked back to me.)

Update: As James identified, my entry was Bonus Entry 05, which describes the “Hukka vs. the Bob” backup story from Atari Force #20. It is my favorite comic because it shows great skill and never fails to make me laugh. It’s not actually wordless — but the only dialogue, except at the end, is “Hukka” and “Bob” in various tones and styles, so I count them as sound effects.

As described here, it’s seven pages in which “A young Chris Champion buys Hukka a robot Personal Pal named Bob. He leaves them to play while he is in his study cube. Hukka rides Bob but gets upset when Bob puts him through the ceiling. Not being able to read the “do not immerse in water” label on Bob’s back, Hukka attempts to flush him down the toilet. Bob becomes vicious and chases Hukka. Hukka finally gets Chris to help.” Here are the credits: Keith Giffen (plots & pencils); Robert Loren Fleming (plot & dialogue); Karl Kesel (plot & inks); Tom Ziuko (plot & colors); Bob Lappan (plot & letters); Andy Helfer (plot & edits); Communist China (plot & take-out).

It was considered good enough to reprint in the Best of DC #71 digest, containing the Year’s Best Comics Stories, in April 1986.

Awareness of the film has increased due to a clever viral marketing campaign, a “secret” screening for fanboys and bloggers at Comic-Con, celebrity tweets, and word of mouth.

Sexism is now “clever”? I have a hard time believing that no one at EW was aware of the fracas over all this. I guess it really is true that it doesn’t matter what people say as long as they’re talking about you.

One of my favorite podcasts, 15 Minutes With [Mark] Waid, has a new episode discussing Secret Origins #46 (1989), the story of Fortress Lad. Yes, the Legion of Super-Heroes headquarters at one point was a person. Eww.

As Waid puts it, “there’s an origin to this origin story,” and he tells it — why this issue was all about superhero headquarters, what the story was originally intended to be and why it was replaced. Originally, Gerard Jones and Kurt Schaffenberger did a story about the rocketship the LSH hung out in that was very very different, but since Superboy wasn’t allowed to be connected to the Legion at that point, it had to be changed.

KC comes in because he was working at DC at the time and threw out an idea that became the replacement story, since they needed 12 pages quickly. Thus, Fortress Lad, with art by Curt Swan and Ty Templeton. (If you don’t know the story, Waid tells it, so go listen.)

That story, by the way, was also the first appearance of Arm-Fall-Off Boy.

They’re promoting a “great action hero/comic superhero section” featuring Wolverine, Iron Man and Tony Stark, Invisible Woman, and Spider-Man plus action heroes like the Terminator and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you’re interested in attending, from now until December 31, 2009, you can get a $5 discount on admission (normally $25 for adults). Simply print this post and show it to the box office to get the savings. (And if you go, I’d love to know what you think of it!) Here’s the fine print:
 
Receive $5 off a regular price Adult/Child Admission when you present this offer. To receive this discount, you must print out this offer to be exchanged at the Madame Tussauds Box Office at time of purchase to receive $5 off up to six (6) one day admission tickets to Madame Tussauds Hollywood. Not valid with other discounts, online ticket sales, or other offers. Valid at Box Office Only. Additional restrictions may apply. Not for resale. Only a printed offer will be honored. Expires 12/31/2009. Discounts are subject to change at any time. Other restrictions apply. Promo Code: 9011/9012

Deb Aoki has created a very cool Women Make Comics design for t-shirts and other products. Proceeds go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Cartoon Art Museum, and Friends of Lulu. I love that it reflects all kinds of women and comics — superheroes, manga, and alternatives.

The problem I’m having is trying to figure out which one to get! I can’t decide between a standard dark shirt or the one with cap sleeves. What do you think? (There are plenty of designs for men, too.)

Ali would be one of the few things I’m sad to be missing, not being at San Diego this year.

While I’m complaining, when is there going to be another Straight Dope book? It’s been 10 years. Did the web make publishing them obsolete?

Google’s logo today, as shown here, is full of DC love — but where’s Superman?

It’s to promote iGoogle comic themes, which sounds kind of neat, except that I don’t know what iGoogle is or why I would need it. In addition to Superman (thus my asking why he’s missing), you can get themes based on Daniel Clowes, Mutts, the Hulk, Vertigo (which includes Spider Jerusalem), Rin-Ne, Popeye, Hellboy, Jaime Hernandez, Tokyopop’s OEL titles, and lots more. Bravo to them for realizing that the comic medium is really diverse!

1. You can’t resell digital copies if you need to make some cash, unlike used books, comics, or other physical media. You can’t donate them or loan them to others, either.

2. If your online content is controlled from a central account, the company might decide to remove copies without notifying you if they change their mind about permissions or availability. This happened to Amazon Kindle readers recently: the electronic edition was rescinded, the books disappeared from the ebook readers, and customer accounts were credited. The ironic part of the whole thing? The titles that were yanked were George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. Shades of Big Brother!

it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.

(Note that after much outrage, Amazon said this was a mistake: “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.”)

3. You never really own anything in such a situation, where one company maintains control of what you can access through your account. This isn’t the first time Amazon has caused problems for Kindle readers. One customer was told he made too many returns, so Amazon cancelled his account, which meant he couldn’t buy any more books wirelessly for the Kindle, the main selling point of the device.

So, if you are going to pay money for digital content, the lesson here is “Make your own backup copies.”

For a limited time we’re letting new customers download the previous version of Anime Studio absolutely FREE! We hope you’ll take advantage of the offer, fall in love with the program and then upgrade to the latest version.

If you do want to upgrade, the latest version is only $20, which sounds like a pretty good deal.

Update: Link removed, since the offer has apparently expired.

Want to play superheroes online without committing to a particular publisher?

Atari and Cryptic Studios will be releasing the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Champions Online for PCs on September 1, 2009.

It’s based on the older pen & paper role-playing game and promises a “unique character customization tool” to create “characters as one-of-a-kind superheroes, where gamers can choose from thousands of costumes, body types, power sets, and character appearances.” The beta is currently open to signups at the project website.

1. I love old technology and seeing how things have changed over the years.

2. Several of the items, I recognized from my recent reading of Drawing Words & Writing Pictures as still being recommended for use in comics, such as the kneaded eraser bunny and the Ames lettering guide.

Comics — still doing art by hand.

1. DVDsWorthWatching.com has just gone live. This site is a sister to ComicsWorthReading.com and MangaWorthReading.com — but I think I should stop with three for a while.

2. CompuServe is dead, which makes me feel old and sad. That was the first commercial service with an outstanding comic presence, including much valuable professional participation, and the general level of discourse was very high (because you had to pay to be there, so why waste it?). Before AOL took its crown in the late 90s, the CIS Comics/Animation Forum was the best place for comic fans.

3. I love this guy’s short history of the internet (via Mike Sterling). What sums up 2009? What will be the next hot online place to be?