December 19, 2014 Johanna Other Leave a comment

Happy Anniversary to Comics Worth Reading

I bought the ComicsWorthReading.com domain on December 23, 1999, as a present for myself. That means that this year, it will have been operating for 15 years. The internet, particularly blogging, has changed a lot in that time, and so has this site, going from static pages to WordPress and from reference pages about comic series to a blog covering more topics, including related movies and books. The modern gift category for the 15th anniversary is Watches, and I’m certainly […]

Mickey's Fun Wheel lit up for World of Color

October 8, 2014 Johanna Other 3 comments

We Went to Disneyland!

In case you’re wondering why there hasn’t been very much content here over the last few days, we took a vacation. To sunny (very sunny) California, where we went to Disneyland. We’d been to Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida several times, but I’d never before seen the original (beta version) park. Here are some photos and thoughts from the trip. How to Have the Best Time at Disneyland We have come up with a workable strategy for enjoying an […]

July 13, 2013 Johanna Other 7 comments

We Won’t Get Good Comic Journalism Unless Someone Is Willing to Pay for It

I’m two months late talking about the departure and return of Comics Alliance — which indicates why I’m no longer a significant part of online comic coverage, if I ever was — but the changes resulted in some good writing about writing, and so I have the impulse to ramble on about writing about comics online, since I’ve been doing it now for over two decades. (And maybe that’s part of why I’ve been cutting back, too. How long can […]

May 5, 2013 Johanna Other Leave a comment

What Should a Reviewer Do If She Doesn’t Like the Book?

I’ve struggled for a while with the question of whether it’s better, if I’m given a comic to review that I don’t care for, to write a negative review or simply not cover the work. I invariably guess wrong. If I err on the side of “if you can’t say anything nice…”, then the artist tells me he would have rather had the links, even if I didn’t like it. If I write a negative review, then the publisher wants […]

March 19, 2012 Johanna Other Leave a comment

Refusing to Review Self-Published Books

This article at the Los Angeles Review of Books sets out to make the point that there are far too many self-published books and explore the stigma of that label, but I found it more enlightening in its comments on review policies. Apparently major media, newspapers and magazines, don’t cover self-published works as a rule, believing them to be “amateurish”. The Washington Post does not review self-published books. The Post’s fiction editor Ron Charles admits, “We simply don’t have the […]

September 1, 2011 KC Other 2 comments

What Makes a Good First Issue? Guidelines for Superhero Comic Origins

Commentary by KC Carlson All through our lives, we hear one particular metaphor over and over — You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Most of the time we hear it in relation to job hunting and interviews, but I think it’s a pretty good rule of thumb for practically anything. Especially the first issues of comic books. First Issues, Pilots, and Proposals There’s always been a special fascination with first issues in the world of […]

October 5, 2009 Johanna Other 22 comments

Reveal Those Review Copies, Bloggers

If you’re in the U.S., as of December 1, the Federal Trade Commission has made it mandatory for bloggers to disclose any payment or free items they receive in return for reviews. If you don’t, “penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation.” No specifics were provided on how the items must be disclosed. (Update: The FTC has clarified through questions from the affected: the fine potential is for advertisers, not bloggers.) Last time the subject came up, at […]

February 7, 2009 Johanna Other One comment

Why Posting Has Been Light Lately

KC and I just got home from the hospital, where he’s been since Wednesday. They think he had a mini-stroke, which would explain his vertigo and dizziness (even more than usual). Here he is getting his brain scanned, one of the many tests they ran. (The dots are electrodes.) He said it was like watching the best Pink Floyd laser light show. He’s fine now but still resting up. Just in time for me to feel like I’m coming down […]

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