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One Last Reason to Become a Member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

“The is week we have spotlighted the various levels at which people can join the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

The last membership level, at $1000, is the Champion level. With this, donors receive the exclusive CBLDF membership card (designed by the great Cliff Chiang), the button set, featuring the CBLDF logo, and several more, including a few surprises, the CBLDF member decal, and ALL of the following:

CBLDF Tote Bag, featuring art by the great Sergio Aragonés!
The popular “I READ BANNED COMICS” t-shirt
A CBLDF branded water bottle, featuring the gone-but-not-forgotten Comics Code Authority emblem

Champion Members will have their names listed in a special “Thank You” section of the LIBERTY ANNUAL 2012, and the special, limited edition, full-color print of the membership card artwork, numbered and signed by artist Cliff Chiang! These prints are extremely limited, and this is the only chance to get them!

For a refresher on what the CBLDF is doing for you, check this post from Monday or their website, which is updated daily.

And as mentioned previously, any CSBG readers joining the CBLDF through Friday (February 3), can type “CSBG” in the memo field of their order form, and receive with their membership a copy of the 2012 LIBERTY ANNUAL, featuring stories by Matt Wagner, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Craig Thompson, and many more!”

Trade paperbacks, older editions, and miscellaneous for January 2012

As I’m getting more and more things in trade these days and many of those don’t come out very quickly, I often miss titles that everyone is raving about for my year-end lists (see: Daredevil). So I’ve decided to do a post every month about the various trade paperbacks I got in the month. I’ve also included editions of things that may be from an earlier year but which I didn’t get until now or which have been re-released, and some other stuff, too. I’m still going to review new graphic novels individually, but this is for anything that doesn’t fall into that category. Sound good? Great. Let’s check some stuff out!
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Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 34: Daredevil: Love and War

Every day this month, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to a single artist. First up: Bill Sienkiewicz! Today’s page is from Daredevil: Love and War (Marvel Graphic Novel #24, in case you’re keeping track), which was published by Marvel and is cover dated 1986. Enjoy!
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Comic Book Legends Revealed #352

Welcome to the three hundredth and fifty-second in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Today, learn whether Spider-Ham was really inspired by Cerebus, discover what Marvel character was nearly Captain Marvel and marvel at the oddity that is the comic book baseball team in the Ken Griffey Presents Major League Baseball video game!

Click here for an archive of the previous three hundred and fifty-one.

Let’s begin!

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I Love Ya But You’re Strange – That Time Batgirl and Wonder Woman Both Fell in Love With Batman

Every week, I will spotlight strange but ultimately endearing comic stories (basically, we’re talking lots and lots of Silver Age comic books). Here is the archive of all the installments of this feature.

Today we take a look at Brave and the Bold #78, where Wonder Woman and Batgirl fight for Batman’s affection in yet another zany Bob Haney tale (this time drawn by Bob Brown)!

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More Reasons to Become a Member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

All this week I will be spotlighting the various rewards you can get by becoming a member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as part of their membership drive. There is even an extra incentive if you join because of reading these posts!

The next membership level we will look at is the $250 “Defender“. With this, donors receive the exclusive CBLDF membership card, the button set, the CBLDF decal, and your choice of TWO of the following:

CBLDF Tote Bag, featuring art by the great Sergio Aragonés!
The popular “I READ BANNED COMICS” t-shirt
A CBLDF branded water bottle, featuring the gone-but-not-forgotten Comics Code Authority emblem.

The next level is the $500 Protector membership, where donors receive EVERYTHING listed above, PLUS your name listed in a special “Thank You” section of the LIBERTY ANNUAL 2012, and a special, limited edition, full-color print of the membership card artwork, numbered and signed by artist Cliff Chiang! These prints are extremely limited, and this is the only chance to get them!

For a refresher on what the CBLDF is doing for you, check this post from Monday or their website, which is updated daily.

And as mentioned previously, any CSBG readers joining the CBLDF through Friday (February 3), can type “CSBG” in the memo field of their order form, and receive with their membership a copy of the 2012 LIBERTY ANNUAL, featuring stories by Matt Wagner, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Craig Thompson, and many more!


What I bought – 24 January and 1 February 2012

Despair and idleness are, I think, the chief motives for religious devotion. When we have nothing on earth to do or hope for we gaze at the sky. We kiss the holy ikons because we have nothing better to kiss. (Lawrence Durrell, from Pope Joan)

Why the doves?  Why? Ryan Sook should do more interiors! So much anger! She's thinking, 'You're going to draw me naked, aren't you, Milo?' More Nate Powell art! Um ... Reptil's not green She may be sad, but she has nice shoes! They look awfully suspicious, don't they? Wouldn't that take his jaw clean off? Well, that's a cool cover!
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If You’re Perusing the Before Watchmen Creators List and Amanda Conner is Throwing You Off?

Then you have some problems.

Amanda Conner is an awesome artist.

She totally belongs in a group that seems like it is based on the idea of “hey, let’s get our top artists on this here project.”

I won’t knock any of the other artists in relation to her, but let’s just say that she absolutely belongs on the list.

Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 33: Moon Knight #30

Every day this month, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to a single artist. First up: Bill Sienkiewicz! Today’s page is from Moon Knight #30, which was published by Marvel and is cover dated April 1983. Enjoy!
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The Line It Is Drawn #75 – Anniversary Issues That’ll Never Be!

Go follow Comics Should Be Good on Twitter (if you have Twitter, that is – if you don’t, you can go sign up). Here is our Twitter page… http://twitter.com/csbg. And here are the Comics Should Be Good writers who are on Twitter (the links go to the person’s Twitter account) – myself, Greg Hatcher, Chad Nevett, Kelly Thompson, Sonia Harris Danielle Leigh, Melinda Beasi, Michelle Smith, Bill Reed and Scott!

I update the blog’s Twitter account updates whenever a new post is put up on the blog, so it’s an easy way to keep up with the blog. In addition, I post new content on the blog’s Twitter account.

Now on to the bit!

So every week, I ask a question here. You reply to it on our Twitter page (just write @csbg with your reply) and our SIX blog sketch artists will each pick one of your suggestions and I will post them here every week. So every week you will have a new question and you will see the top six choices from the previous week. Here is an archive of all the previous editions of The Line It Is Drawn!

To qualify, you have to be following us when you reply – so go follow us and then give your answer to the following question/challenge (All suggestions due by 9:00 AM Pacific, Friday, January 27th).

The topic is…

In honor of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund‘s 2012 Membership Drive, team-up various comic book characters with Lady Liberty, the symbol of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

Read on for the six sketches that came about courtesy of the last question/challenge!

Celebrate Anniversary Issues That Will Likely Never Be! Choose a canceled series and our artists will come up with an Anniversary Issue cover for that book. Static Shock #500! Angel and the Ape #200! Only canceled comics that have never HAD an issue that ended in 00 qualify (so no Defenders, Sgt. Rock, etc.)!

Enjoy!

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Cover Theme Game for 2/1

Every Wednesday you’ll get a brand-new comic cover theme game! The game works like this: I’ll show you three covers. They all have something in common, whether it be a character, a trait all three characters share, a connection between all three characters, a locale, a creator, SOMEthing. And it isn’t something obvious like “They all have prices!” “They all have logos!” “They all feature a man!” “They are all Avengers (who ISN’T?)!” “They’re all dead (who HASN’T been killed off?)!” etc.

In addition, please note that you must have some familiarity with comic book history to correctly guess these comics. You cannot guess the connective theme just by looking at the covers solely, you must have some knowledge beyond just the covers. However, starting this week, the connections will ONLY have to do with comic books (so no more “they share the same last names of Vice Presidents,” etc.).

If you come up with an answer that works outside of what I intended, I’ll give you credit (well, provided I think it fits, of course).

One more thing – if there are floating heads on the cover, ignore them! They don’t mean anything! Same thing with corner boxes!

If you think you know the answer, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Don’t answer in the comments. This way, people who check in at different times of the day can still get credit for answering it correctly!

Here is an archive of all the past cover theme games, plus their answers. Before each new installment, I’ll post the answers to the previous week’s game.

Good luck and enjoy! Continue Reading »

Another Reason to Become a Member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

All this week I will be spotlighting the various rewards you can get by becoming a member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as part of their membership drive. There is even an extra incentive if you join because of reading these posts!

The next levels of CBLDF membership we are focusing on are SUPPORTER and ADVOCATE. With a $50 Supporter membership, donors receive the exclusive CBLDF membership card, plus a new button set, featuring the CBLDF logo and more!

Also included is a CBLDF window decal, showing that you are a member, and showing the world that you support free speech!

With a $100 Advocate membership, donors receive the CBLDF membership card, the button set, the window decal, and your choice of ONE of the following:

CBLDF Tote Bag, featuring art by the great Sergio Aragonés! This tote bag is durable canvas, measuring 14 by 15 inches.

The popular “I READ BANNED COMICS” t-shirt
A CBLDF branded water bottle, featuring the gone-but-not-forgotten Comics Code Authority emblem.

Any CSBG readers joining the CBLDF, this Tuesday (January 31) through Friday (February 3) can type “CSBG” in the memo field of their order form, and receive with their membership a copy of the 2012 LIBERTY ANNUAL, featuring stories by Matt Wagner, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Craig Thompson, and many more!

Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 32: Moon Knight #2

Every day this month, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to a single artist. First up: Bill Sienkiewicz! Today’s page is from Moon Knight #2, which was published by Marvel and is cover dated December 1980. Enjoy!
Continue Reading »

Committed: Webcomics and Art Links

This week, while I ought to have been writing you a column, I was wasting time on the internet and making things. Here are the webcomics and art that distracted me so effectively. Enjoy! Continue Reading »

So….Watchmen Prequels…

Here is the talent on the seven prequel mini-series

- RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
- MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
- COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
- DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
- NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
- OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
- SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Plus Len Wein and John Higgins will be doing two-page back-up stories in each of the books (which will be shipping weekly) telling the story of the CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR.

Plus, there will be one big EPILOGUE one-shot where everyone will come together.

Alan Moore finds the whole thing “completely shameless” and pointed out that, “As far as I know, there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ‘Moby-Dick.’ ” Dave Gibbons wishes the creators well, while noting that he and Moore said everything they wanted to say with the original book (Gibbons is awesome. What a sweet guy).

Now on the one hand, this surely is not going to taint the legacy of Watchmen, anymore than Scarlett…

tainted Gone With the Wind.

Plus, the talent involved really is quite impressive. People who you’d never see doing a full comic for DC Comics otherwise.

On the other hand, while projects like Scarlett don’t taint their original works, they tend not to leave a positive mark on the original, either. No one is rushing to package S. Darko with Donnie Darko, ya know?

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