Search Results for: image comics

Originally published August 21, 1998, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1292

Okay, sit back. This is going to take a couple of columns. We’ll start out relatively small, discussing the immediate lack of any sense of history, and expand into a general discussion about ageism—a belief that anything not young or recent is useless—and end with explaining why, as a result, the comic industry is in a downward spiral from which it may never recover.

Continue Reading “Memorable Moments in Comics History, Part 1” →

Originally published October 24, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1249

We write of heroes.

Yes, yes, I know there is a whole big, wide world of comic books outside the realm of the superhero. But it is there that I have most of my experience, and it is there that—for the moment—I am dwelling.

Continue Reading “Planet Comics” →

Originally published June 13, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1230

Back when Image Comics first started up, I expressed the opinion in these pages that I felt, personally, a little disappointed over the choice of superheroes for the subject matter of the line. My point (and, as Ellen DeGeneres says, I do have one) was that other comic creators had broken away from Marvel and DC to produce comics that were wildly away from the norm of “the Big Two.” And that I felt an opportunity was being missed to expand the horizons of comic book readers who thought that guys in tights were the be-all/end-all of what comics could provide.

This sentiment was attributed all sorts of misinterpretations and (naturally) evil ulterior motives, when all it was was one dope with a column saying, in essence, “Gee, I’d just liked to have seen something different, that’s all.”

Continue Reading “Comics review: A Touch of Silver” →

Originally published October 11, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1195

I think I finally understand Rob Liefeld. Which is cold comfort I suppose, considering the last couple of weeks he’s been having, but there it is.

Several things crystallized this newly-found comprehension for me.

Continue Reading “The Ed Wood of Comics” →

Originally published March 22, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1166

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’re short on time this week. So, for a quickie, I’m running the following letter and illustration from Red Sonja creator Frank Thorne, whose Devil’s Angel is one of the comics named in the Oklahoma City debacle.

Continue Reading “Planet Comics, Continued” →

Originally published March 15, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1165

Planet Comics closed.

Well, the censors certainly showed them, didn’t they? They can add another notch to their belt. At a time in our industry when stores are closing because they can’t afford to keep their doors open due to “normal” sales drop-off, we now lose a store of long standing because well-organized monitors of what other people should be exposed to decided to target a store.

Continue Reading “Planet Comics and the Effects of Censorship” →

Originally published February 23, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1162

It seems that no matter where you go in the comics industry or what you do or what facet you work in, crossovers and tie-ins are unavoidable. In this case, the word has come down from on high that this installment of BID should tie in with the 25^th anniversary of Comics Buyer’s Guide.

Continue Reading “Comics Then and Now” →