We live in a world where there are mainstream grocery stores (to include Wal-Mart and Target) as well as the very low budget thrifty grocery stores (like "Save-A-Lot").
At these low budget places, we can find soda selections like:
Dr. Pop
Mountain Holler
Diet Mountain Holler
Bubba Cola
Diet Bubba Cola
Tubz (Root Beer)
Crisp (Orange Soda)
Bubba Zero
I am not kidding, look at the images:
Gallery
So, why aren't there any REALLY low budget comics out there "mocking" the big name brands? They could be completely digital to keep the costs down. ;)
Obviously, they would still have to take themselves seriously, and avoid acting like a "Not Brand Echh", "What The--?" or "Shame Itself" type parody series.
My question to you:
What would your generic comic volumes be?
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NOTE: I mostly wanted to start this thread so people can see how silly the generic soda names at "Save-A-Lot" are... but I wanted to link it to comics, so I did (or at least tried to) - But seriously, Dr. Pop? Mountain Holler?
With solid books like this, I wonder why a "villain only" series wouldn't survive. We all know that "bad stuff" happens every day, much more than the good guys can attend to, so why not show more of the underworld's goings-on? With so many super-villain teams, it would almost be like the standard "good" vs. "bad"; only this time, it would be "bad" vs. "bad" - and why not?
Heck, things must be getting really boring for the "good guys" in the Marvel Universe if they have to start fighting each other for ratings! :)
I also added some wiki information in the issue details (contains spoilers for the issue). Between the review and the issue details, you should be able to get an idea of the flow, art and writing execution within the book...
In any case, I look forward to reading what this series has in store. I hope you want to take this journey with me. If not, I will still be reading and reviewing as the months pass - so you can at least keep tabs on its progress.
I realize that the link I am about to post, favors the "digital" in the "physical vs. digital" battle, but since this blog is digital, it is my best option.
If you do have a chance to pick up and read a physical newspaper in the Buffalo area, please do so. If you are travelling or far removed from this location of the country, then digital is the way to go... in fact, that is one thing that can be said about "digital" - it allows the information you may want to flow freely and easily across the world...
Either way, the following article was on the front page of the Buffalo Business Section today, take a look (and yes this is also a plug for one of my favorite comic shops):
Queen City Bookstore owner Emil Novak acknowledges that today's children and younger teens haven't grown up reading comic books, but he remains optimistic about the future. - Charles Lewis/Buffalo News
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That said...
Like the rest of you, I do have plenty of digital distractions - I have my smart phone, gaming systems, email, twitter, facebook, and cable with a bigillion channels. But NOTHING beats the thrill of entering a brick-and-mortar comic shop, smelling the old paper, looking at all the back issues, enjoying the atmosphere and talking with the shop owner (who likely has been doing this for decades and has some great stories to tell).
You can strike up a conversation with the other patrons, you can get advice from solicits, previews, and even sold out signs... This simply is not the experience if you limit yourself to amazon and ebay. Now don't get me wrong, I still shop online for stuff, but I ALWAYS make it a point to get my new issues (and whatever else catches my eye) at a local brick-and-mortar.
So, while "digital" may dominate our lives, take a drive to your local comic shop - you may be surprised how much fun you have.
26ish of you responded (some were in the comments):
This was a bit more evenly distributed, but the clear winner is "New Comics (as soon as they are released as individual Issues)"
The NET-NET of all this is (from what I can gather):
You guys are reading A LOT of Issues!
You guys are reading more NEW comics as individual Issues than anything else.
Thanks so much for all your participation.
If you would like to vote, feel free to do so, the polls are still open. :) I will keep watch and see if the bars change, if they do, I will post an update.
With all the death and destruction of the Annihilation Wave, it is nice to see so many characters had time to smile.
Some of them had devoted full panels for their gesture of cheer. In fact, just within the six main books of Annihilation, we see 6 (six) full panel smiles (from four different characters - Ravenous (3); Thanos (1); Drax (1); Ronan (1)):
When it comes to panels where the main focus is all about the smiles, I counted 18 (eighteen) different smile occurrences in the six main books of Annihilation:
Gallery
Thanos wins the smile prize this time... and why wouldn't he? After all, he ended up with the love of his "life"...
It is well known that whenever Hollywood gets their hands on a comic book character for a movie, they usually botch the story.
Question 1: How many comic book movies can you name that adhered to the actual story from the comics? - You know ones that you were actually pleased with...
Question 2:Why is this?
They say the "adapted" script is developed in such a way to appeal to a broader audience. Sure - because so many of the non-comic film scripts do so well... (Epic Movie)
Question 3: We see this with screen adaptations of novels as well - how many movies do their relatednovel's justice? Not many.
Question 4: So, what does that say to us, the comic book or novel reader?
It may be just me, but I believe it says that we (the small in comparison audience) are somehow drastically different than the mythical "broader audience".
Rhetorical Questions: Seriously, were the actual comic book stories that bad? Would the "broader audience" seriously not like what the comic book audience grew to know and love?
So...
Main Point: If anything, I would think that a smaller group of discriminating individuals would KNOW MORE than the "broader audience" about "what's good" for an entertaining movie.
As his commission work nears to the end (over 20 rounds of commissions), J.Ho (Jason Ho) has created MANY, many pieces of original artwork for the community, in an effort to raise awareness and money for the "Help The Cheerleader" Campaign.
I was lucky enough to have a friend, who knowing my love for Thanos, donated, requested Thanos and received a piece of original Thanos J.Ho artwork.
I know many of you won't really care about this, but some of you may be able to relate...
20 years ago, I started collecting comics. I collected them for their covers. Period. I NEVER READ ANYTHING I purchased. Maybe it was because I started collecting comic book cards first, where comic book covers just were a larger form factor of the cards I knew and loved -- who knows. Either way, I amassed quite a nice collection -- until all of the sudden, I just stopped.
Now, around 15 years since I last gazed upon the colorful illustrations of my favorite cover art, I sit here wondering how the heck I am ever going to catch up on all this reading!?! Not only do I have my old collection to sift through (some of which were duplicates and triplicates purchased in the "prospecting age of comics"), but I have all the new stuff that I have added to that collection -- in an effort to catch up with the major happenings and events of the last 15 years.
Wow. I never thought I would be so lost.
I guess I am at a double disadvantage - when I was collecting, I never read anything, so anything I thought I knew about the characters came from the cover art of the comics, safely stored within a plastic bag in front of a piece of cardboard; on top of that, I am trying to catch up on an entire two ages worth of comics, Silver and Modern for an ever-growing selection of characters.
Lo and behold, something else has sprung up in the time I was away (now I really feel like I have been frozen in the ice of the Arctic for years): People actually read, review and talk about comics on the internet. I was used to looking at the covers of Wizard magazine, and the occasional glance at the Comic Buyers Price Guide... but this internet thing for comics really is big. WAY bigger than I would have expected. All this coming from the same person that as of a few months ago didn't realize new comics were still being released - let alone on a weekly basis.
So with the comic book universe securely embedded on the internet, I decided to start doing a little research. I quickly found more and more information on this very site. Not taking this as coincidence, I decided to create an account and started really digging into what the Comic Vine community had to offer. Boy, oh boy - if I ever felt buried in a backlog of comic book to do's before checking out Comic Vine, I really fely hopeless after becoming a member! Slowly but surely, I started completing my to do's - checking off the lists and lists of facts that I had never would have imaged existed. I have to say, Wiki Questing on Comic Vine is THE BEST way to cut your teeth on 100 years worth of data. I know I will always learn new things, but the "game" aspect of questing really makes it fun and organized.
So here I sit, 13 Reviews, 4 Lists, 63 Forum Posts, 10 Blog Posts, nearly 4000 Wiki Points and finally down to one page of Quests remaining... and I am loving life. I have never had so much fun. I have read more comics since I joined Comic Vine on 10/07/2011 than I ever have. I have spent more time thinking critically about comics, comic characters, story arcs and everything comic related than I ever thought possible. This is by far the best hobby in the world; and here on Comic Vine, we have the best conduit to not only get great information, but provide verified content back to the community!
Anyway, if you have read this far, Thank You! It was a nice break to sit here and let the thoughts and feelings flow. For those of you who have interacted with me or my Comic Vine content - Thank You! For while I do this for fun, I also do this knowing that I am providing wanted information for at least one person (new to comics or not) in the world. Besides, I need a creative outlet away from my normal work life - and this has become the best way I could conceive of to spend my free time...
Oh, and if you haven't already seen - the following image should prove to you, my dedication for this hobby! :)
As always, SPECIAL THANKS to Tony, Sara and Corey for not only continuing to have a great weekly podcast, but also for reading, discussing and answering my question!
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