The Week at the Curve

Week of April 6, 2005

April Fool's Day reared its ugly head this week; and while I really hoped I'd be able to post on Jonathan Lethem's new project, it appears I'll have to find something else to nominate among the best posts of the week--all of which were kept more civil than the words had between Rich Johnston and Mark Millar.

Curveland was buzzing this week with some great industry news. At the top of the list, I'm going to draw your attention to Ale Garza's move to Wonder Woman, the forthcoming Hellboy mini, and DC's long anticipated release of Countdown to Infinite Crisis (discussed here, here, and here). I, meanwhile, am trying to avert my eyes from all 3 of these forums, as both of my local comics shops sold out of them in under 2 hours, and I have to wait until the new shipment comes in next week to witness the grandeur myself.

I was, however, able to (like Jorge) enjoy "the holy hell out of myself" Friday night at the opening of "Sin City." Get thee to a screening ASAP before this beautiful piece of work is relegated to less worthy venues than the big screen.

Also around the industry, we cast attentions upon the death of cartoonist O V Vijayan, comics in schools, and the proliferation of manga in bookstores.

There was also a healthy table of opinion pieces this week. I want to you check out Lea's "Hurt Comics" post before any others. It's comic gold. Also, educate yourself on the "Rights of the Fictional." It's nice to see that someone's standing up for Ralph.

On one last note, I'd like to hand out my second weekly award for best response on a comment thread. This week's winner is actually a shared prize between Todd Cline and Zach Harrison for the thread on Lea's piece.

TODD: I think people should just make comics and quick back-seat driving the industry.

Or at least use all these efforts towards something more fruitful like the downfall of Bush.

ZACH: Hey random guy, thanks for bringing Bush into something completely unrelated. The best way to make a difference politically is definitely to mention not liking a guy on a comic book blog. You've got a promising career as a campaign manager awaiting!

Nice contribution, guys. I salute you. Now on to a new week. With any luck, I'll survive the riots here in Champaign/Urbana Monday night after the Illini win it all and be back to write you another column.