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Today at AiT/Planet Lar

January 06, 2009
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Seriously, is there any more I can do for Ryan Yount? Taught him everything I know about marketing and promotions so he could get a good job at Ubisoft, sure; I'm not even going to mention personally making him lunch and sandwiches and whatnot for three years straight... that'd just be crass. I made him lunch because he worked hard and I appreciated it. Least I could do to put mustard on a slice of meat while he lettered Last of the Independents and Demo and all.

But, hey! Here comes Brian Cronin with a review of Ryan's own Scurvy Dogs: "To say that these stories are madcap would be to undersell the term 'madcap,' as these comics are just off the wall laugh riots.... I only wish that Boyd and Yount would give us more Scurvy Dogs!"

Well, Brian, I can tell you, that whenever those clowns do more SD, I'll publish them, no kidding.

January 05, 2009
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Boy, there was a lot going on there, at the holidays, wasn't there? The one thing that struck me, as I was inflating a three foot by four foot by three foot Thomas the Tank Engine ball pit with an air compressor that we have for blowing up the air mattress we have for Jared or Ian or whoever crashes in the AiT suite at San Diego... is that when I was a kid my father used to routinely blow these kind of things up with his own damn lungs. I can't believe it. If I had tried to blow this thing up on my own power, I'd still be down in the playroom, and it'd only be half done.

Seriously, this thing took fifteen minutes with an air compressor. My dad would have done it in ten with his smoke-addled lungs.

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Saw a funny review of Switchblade Honey: "This story might be pretty lightweight, but they sure didn't skimp on the artwork. Brandon McKinney is a polished penciller who takes the project seriously, regardless of the actual content. I see hints of Dave Gibbons and Alan Davis here, but McKinney most closely resembles Mark Bagley. If you ask me, that's pretty good company to be in. It's a testament to Warren Ellis as a force in this industry that no matter which publisher he's writing for or how much of a lark the project is, he always attracts first-rate artists to work with.

"I'm not entirely clear on the publishing history of Switchblade Honey; I guess it was originally published in 2003, although it was recently resolicited in Previews, which is when I ordered it. Perhaps this is a new printing."

I wish people in comics would dig on the backlist a little more. This guy might not have even been reading comics five years ago; good thing we re-solicited.

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...and you all are reading Robot 6, yeah? As soon as the DSL gets fixed, I'm sure I'll be in there with the fire and the brimstone. As the man said, "You have been too long absent from the games, Flavius."

December 23, 2008
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Scott Cederlund names The Black Diamond as one of the Best Comics of 2008: "Almost a year after the conclusion of this miniseries, Young’s ending to this story has still perplexed and delighted me. The abandonment of regular comic narrative was a brave choice as a voice of God type of narrative takes over for the conclusion of the story."

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...and there's an end-of-the-year wrap-up interview with me over at Johanna Draper Carlson's Comics Worth Reading, where I say things like: "We’re creator-focused, so we’re not killing trees to put out the next adventure of Copyright Retention Monthly, or something. We’re bringing you the next Adam Beechen OGN, or unveiling the Next Big Talent, or whatever. When we put out a book, we’re offering up an entertainment event."

December 22, 2008
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Alex Ness gives Holmes a shout-out as one of the best books of 2008: "Lastly, but not least I suggest every fan of Sherlock Holmes to turn off their snooty outlook and allow me to offer this fun, outlandish book. HOLMES by Omaha Perez is the collection of the story begun by Perez back in 2005, and completed and offered now by AiT/Planet Lar. Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes are a new odd couple here, with Dr. Watson providing Holmes with narcotics, and the two search for the skull of Joseph Hayden. What a strange trip it becomes... I preferred Bodhisatva by Perez, mostly because it went far deeper philosophically and was so different from anything else around at the time. HOLMES is also different, but, more a wild spoof than a true addition to the mythos of Holmes and Watson. The art is good, I liked it, and the story was funny. But ultimately this seemed more an excursion of let me try this than I have an idea. I still recommend it, but be prepared to snort in disgust if you like Sherlock Holmes, and giggle in amusement if you do not."

December 15, 2008
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Tom Spurgeon, in addition to providing stellar comic book industry observations and insight into the business that makes strong men weep and grown women swoon always has his finger on the pulse of what's-what and who's who. The thing I most admire about ol' Tom is his reticence to become "friends" with those he covers so he can look his critics in the eye with a straight face and say he's as a non-biased observer of the scene as you can find. You gotcher New York City publisher-financed bloggers, and artcomix dudes and all sorts of biased and influenced commentators of every stripe spewing their noise.

But good ol' Tom Spurgeon serves it up without varnish, which is valuable enough, but shows he's got a warm caramel inside by noting comic book folks' birthdays each day as well.

So it's the least we can do to give Tom a nod on his day, too:

Happy Birthday, Tom. Forty's not so bad as all that. Nice work.

December 04, 2008
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AiT San Diego booth bunny and all-around Top Gun fan Ash Aiwase turns 30 today. Keep 'em flyin' Ash!

December 01, 2008
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Apparently, there's some sort of Die Hard "re-imagining" on the horizon:

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