I found myself pondering this question, as one does on a slow holiday afternoon. The first part of the answer is to figure out how you define a superhero. I’ve done this previously. My definition of superhero is categorical, looking at whether a given character has a preponderance of the common characteristics associated with the genre. So let’s run those down, looking at both the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories as well as the character from the Sherlock TV show. […]

Found myself thinking this weekend about the last comic convention and when we might be able to travel to see friends and gather again. So in honor of my resolution to be more optimistic, here’s a silly little game in honor of convention gatherings. Have you had the full 100% convention experience? (Most of my experience is comic cons, but I’ve tried to make this more inclusive for other kinds of media conventions.) Give yourself the following points for anything […]

Mike Sterling, of Progressive Ruin and Sterling Silver Comics, put up a post recently that brought back all kinds of memories. He looks at long-time comic bloggers (a group I am privileged to be part of, having run this site for over 20 years, although I like to think of it as a combination blog/website, since “blogging” feels as a term a little more self-indulgent than I aim for). Mike has been going over 16 years himself, and he’s unique […]

The premier American small-press convention has been cancelled for this year. The Small Press Expo, held every September in Bethesda, Maryland, has been called off in 2020 due to COVID-19 (as it should be, given the amount of uncertainty). (By the by, I miss the spxpo.com URL, which has apparently been abandoned and claimed by squatters.) Their festival prize, the Ignatz Awards, will be streamed, held virtually. How voting will happen is still to be determined. Interested and eligible artists […]

Chooseco is a company that owns the “Choose Your Own Adventure” trademark. (It was formed in 2003 by series founder R. A. Montgomery to bring the 80s books back into print.) Which means that other people who want to do similar multi-threaded stories need to call them “pick your path” or something else. This is relevant because at the end of 2018, Netflix put out an interactive movie, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, that it billed as “choose your own adventure”. And […]

Some favorite holiday songs! “We Need a Little Christmas” – The Muppets from A Muppet Family Christmas “Christmas Wrapping” – The Waitresses “Christmas All Over Again” – Tom Petty “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – U2 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – Mariah Carey “Santa Baby” – Eartha Kitt “Baby It’s Cold Outside” – Dean Martin and the Golddiggers “Fairytale Of New York” – The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl “Riu Chiu” – The Monkees “The Closing of the […]