Meanwhile...

The comic blogosphere seems to grow larger every day and just like comics, sometimes it's pretty easy to get a little lost. "Meanwhile..." will act as your map pointing out what interesting discussions are happening out there while you're reading the Great Curve.

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New Line Comics?

New Line seems to be making an in-road into comics with it's upcoming mini-series based in on the movie Seven. Christian Beranek has a few details on the book.

Graphic Interview

Graphic Language posted it's second interview this week this time Ed Cunard interviews Alex Cox, one of the owners of Rocketship, a comics bookstore at 208 Smith Street in Brooklyn.

What's the saying? "A rising tide lifts all boats"? That's pretty much it. Anything that legitimizes comics-as-literature is okay by me. I think of us as a bookstore that specializes in comics, so anything that raises the profile of bookstore-friendly material is great for us.

I really hope more owners start to think of themselves as a bookstore that specializes in comics.

Thoughts on Alex Toth

The Comics Reporter has the most comprehensive post on Alex Toth that I've seen. He's even linking to other posts around the net so if you see any he hasn't noticed send them his way.

The Saga of U.S. 1

Only one blogger is crazy enough to read and post the entire story of US 1 in not one, but two parts. That man is Chris Sims.

Coloring Contest

Chris Tamarri needs your help to color the NextWave, or Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Crayon Butchery Variant.

I am going to color this comic book, and hopefully you'll be willing to tell me how. What you need to do is this: Go into the "comments" section of this very post (from the main page, you'll have to click on the post's title to do so), and give me a word, of which I will then take 22—only the best, Changelings!—and use them as inspiration, such as it is, one for each of the pages in this book. You can offer any word, either obvious—"red," say, or "sloppy"—or less obvious—"theremin," or "winsome". You can include more than one word, or one word many times, just to drive the point home. It's up to you. At some point, a week or two from now, I'll decide that I've got enough and it's to the Crayolas for me. By the time I'm done, I'll have hopefully figured out a way to post the results, or at least a large portion thereof, here, without potentially pissing a bunch of people off. Maybe I'll just get lazy and throw the whole thing up at once and wait for Marvel's lawyers to descend. That part's still a mystery. But I'll certainly credit each person as the appropriate "muse" for each page, and I promise that by the time I'm done, I'll have thought of language less "Renaissance Faire".

Spicy!

Harvey Jerkwater has discovered the Comic Book Spice Rack. Take any his suggestions and add them to a comic. It's guaranteed to "taste" better!

Ditko's Fourth World

Tim O'Neil ponders the difference in Steve Ditko's and Jack Kirby's politics and what Ditko's New Gods might have been like.

It's common knowledge that Ditko and Kirby didn't see eye to eye politically*, but the Old Testament-influenced thematic foundation of Kirby's heavily metaphorical mythological melodrama seems to overlap with Ditko's conceptual territory in an uncanny manner - what better device to explore the inescapable polarity of Good and Evil than the two worlds of New Genesis and Apokalips? What better character to epitomize the concept of self-determination and the pursuit of justice than Orion, a character literally "born evil" who made the conscious decision to fight on the side of good? Even the very concept of "The Pact" seems tailor-made for a Ditko story - of course the bargain between Highfather and Darkseid fails, because there can be no compromise between Good and Evil - you can either choose black or white, there is no "middle ground" that does not lead to corruption.

MyComicSpace

Neilalien wants real comic book social networking. I think it's a good idea. It would never be as popular as MySpace of course, but it's a perfect idea for what he's envisioned. Can it be done?

Strong Women

Strong Women characters must be on the brain lately.

Project Rooftop re-designs the costumes of both Rogue and Big Barda and Ragnell examines She-Hulk and the differences that set her apart from her larger/angrier male cousin.

Speaking of Ragnell make sure to check out the second edition of her Weekly Women's Geek-Out. There are some quality links there regardless of sex.

Flea Market Fuss

Jeff Lester of The Savage Critics describes his trip to the local flea market for comics. The characters he meets there can be found at pretty much any flea market across the US.

Fast as Lightning

Could Kurt Addams be onto something? Could the new Flash be Black Lightning?

Now if I had to guess, based on the ads alone, I’d say the new Flash was going to be black – it could simply be the lighting in this pic, but it certainly could go either way.

Having said that, how about some idle speculation: if I were in charge of DC I think I’d have Black Lightning “discover” that his lightning/electrical powers had imbued him with super speed as well. I’ve always liked the BL character and DC has worked him into the IC story prominently – albeit briefly - enough that I think the timing would work.

Illustration Blog

Artist Leonard Kirk has a blog and he's been posting his art from Detective Comics and the upcoming Agents of Atlas.