March 18, 2010 Johanna Comic News Leave a comment

IDW Becomes Premier Publisher

Congratulations to IDW Publishing, which today was announced as a Diamond Comic Distributors Premier Publisher. What does that mean? They get to be in the front half of the Previews catalog, which has always been rumored to get a company more eyeballs and sales. (Speculation has it that some retailers stop reading after the premier section.) IDW products are also able to be featured on the catalog cover, in rotation with the other premier publishers (DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark […]

March 17, 2010 Johanna Comic News 16 comments

Audience, Fans, and Marketing to Women

The question, “what audience do superhero comics aim for?”, has been of much discussion (at least, around my house) this week. Brian Hibbs, after telling an adorable story about his son making a Leprechaun Trap, starts things off pondering what kind of entertainment is suitable for his 7-year-old. despite the perhaps foolish nature of some of [Buddy Saunders’] complaints, a tremendous amount of what he said ended up coming reasonably true — “mainstream” superhero comics are really unacceptable for kids […]

The Archie Wedding: Archie In Will You Marry Me?

March 14, 2010 Johanna Archie Comics One comment

The End of the Archie Marriage Storyline

Archie #605 completes the Archie marriage storyline that began in Archie #600. For 3 issues, we read the imaginary story of how Archie and Veronica got married and had twins. Then, it was Betty’s turn. This last issue of the story gives Betty and Archie twins (just like Archie and Veronica had) and catches up with many of their Riverdale friends, as they also move on with their adult lives. As you might expect, given the relatively short three-issue story […]

March 14, 2010 Johanna Movie Reviews 3 comments

Ponyo

Ponyo is the newest Studio Ghibli movie to come to DVD in the U.S. Thanks to Ed’s laptop, I was able to sample this in Blu-ray. (Although we had a bit of trouble getting the thing to talk to my television. I thought it would be as simple as plugging in the cable to the HDMI port, but it seems that you have to disable the laptop screen to get the TV image to show; otherwise, the software gives you […]

March 11, 2010 Johanna Movie Reviews Leave a comment

She’s Out of My League

She’s Out of My League opens on Friday, but I was lucky enough to see a preview earlier this week. I recommend it. When it comes to R-rated comedy romances, I’m never sure what to expect. Some of them are raunchfests or expect you to find laughs in watching a bunch of potheads kill time. This one takes a different direction. While quite funny, it also has a sense of heart. Fundamentally, it’s an ugly duckling love story, the tale […]

March 7, 2010 Johanna Dark Horse Manga Reviews 3 comments

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Volume 8

If you’re curious about The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service series, which I recommend, but you can’t find the early volumes in the series, try starting here. Volume 8 begins with that manga classic, the school club recruitment drive. Rei is a new student at the Buddhist College all the Service members attend, and she winds up at the group’s open call for new members. They’re billing themselves as an entrepreneurial “money-makin’ club” to get some kids interested. However, seeing each […]

March 2, 2010 Johanna Books About Comics One comment

Modern Masters: Chris Sprouse

I’m still waiting for TwoMorrows to deem a woman worthy of inclusion in their Modern Masters line of interview books, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy this Chris Sprouse volume, co-written by our friend Todd Dezago. (The other writer is nice guy Eric Nolen-Weathington.) I find Sprouse’s clean art lovely in its simplicity, and he works incredibly hard to achieve that appearance. As with the other Modern Masters books, the text is a lengthy interview in which the subject talks […]

March 1, 2010 Johanna Graphic Universe Leave a comment

Hamster and Cheese

Hamster and Cheese is the first book in a new series, Guinea PIG: Pet Shop Private Eye, by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue. In it, the title character, named Sasspants, solves mysteries. It’s very cute — Sasspants lives in a glass habitat filled with books her size — and has some funny dialogue and character interactions. There is one running gag, about the shop owner being stupid, that didn’t work for me, since it’s reflected in calling all the […]

« 1 … 483 484 485 486 487 … 619 »