And there's good comics out there.  Really good comics.  You can read the painfully-funny Achewood almost any day.  Roast Beef pretty much makes up for all the other web comics nastocity by himself.  I hadn't been to the shop in a while so I had a big stack today.  But as I was eating dinner and having some drinks, I got to read 'Beto Hernandez, a ridiculously-fun Mighty Avengers drawn by Alex Maleev (I'm a sucker for "get the gang together" bits), Brian Wood's Viking beauty, and an Abe Sapien book.

Listen, if, at this point, you're down on "comics today" it's your own fault.  Stop reading such crap.  The good stuff isn't hard to find.

68 Comments

• At May 7, 2008, Conor E wrote:

  Did... did a comic book blogger have something positive to say about a crossover tie-in issue (Maleev's Avengers)?

  I smell a ...

• At May 7, 2008, T. wrote:

  This was short, but enjoyable. Thanks.

• At May 7, 2008, Craig wrote:

  If your store owner won't refund your 50 cents for DC 0, you shop at the wrong store.

  If you didn't ...

• At May 7, 2008, Matt wrote:

  I liked DC Universe 0 for what it was; a teaser issue. Nothing more. Much like you get ...

• At May 7, 2008, Conor E wrote:

  Craig: please explain how a crappy commercial makes the product advertised bad. I'd REALLY like to see an explanation that ...

• At May 7, 2008, MDV wrote:

  Alex Maleev? Really? I'm not a big fan of Human Xerox machines. Even Greg Land goes through ...

• At May 7, 2008, Michael wrote:

  While I reserve the right to call shitty comics shitty, you're right. There are plenty of good comics out there, ...

• At May 7, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  Word to the Roast Beef praise.

• At May 7, 2008, Bill wrote:

  Hey, MDV, Maleev actually draws all those pictures! He may photoshop some of his backgrounds, though: I'm not sure.

• At May 7, 2008, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Wow, Criag. That was a heckuva lot of wrong to fit into only four paragraphs.

• At May 7, 2008, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Whoops. Says the guy who misspells "Craig".

• At May 7, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  If you're the kind of customer who demands a refund on a 50-cent product from a comic shop, the problem ...

• At May 7, 2008, Sam wrote:

  Beto Hernandez and Achewood, praised in the same post? Joe Rice just made my favorite bloggers list.

• At May 8, 2008, J. R. Wick wrote:

  I still fail to see why there is so much hatred towards DCU #0. It was a teaser book, ...

• At May 8, 2008, Vic wrote:

  Comics are good? I never would have guessed!

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  ACHEWOOD totally rules. SECRET INVASION is just the right amount of loopy ridiculousness. DORORO is absolutely killer classic manga. The ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Also, I just want to second that Joe is an idiotic brainless inbred Marvel Zombie.

  With sexy chest-hair.

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  Wow. Quite a departure from Snark Free Corner, I guess.

  Conor E: I'm not saying that a bad commercial is indicative ...

• At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I used to think CSBG was a nice place for people to positively discuss comics, what with weekly themes like ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "I used to think CSBG was a nice place for people to positively discuss comics"

  It's called "COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD".

  That ...

• At May 8, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:

  When I think "Marvel Zombie", the first thing that comes to mind is "Joe Rice."

• At May 8, 2008, Michael wrote:

  He's right about the inbreeding, though. I mean, the man is from Kentucky.

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Yeah, I'm not sure what Craig's beef is here. I totally understand Alan Moore's beef, and quite agree with ...

• At May 8, 2008, Hans Keller wrote:

  I thought I was the only person left on the planet who remembered Dartman.

• At May 8, 2008, John Cage wrote:

  Anyone who's down on comics is reading the wrong books. I got a lot of fun books yesterday, and while ...

• At May 8, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:

  Joe Rice raped my childhood.

  (Well, somebody had to say it.)

• At May 8, 2008, Katherine F. wrote:

  I hate Achewood. I just had to say that, because everyone and their dog keeps saying how awesome Achewood is, ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "and I want the other people who fail to see the humour in a cartoon cat vomiting blood to know ...

• At May 8, 2008, Katherine F. wrote:

  Alex Cox: Should I be insulted that you assume I don't know what I'm talking about? I read over a ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  I didn't assume anything about you.

  I just said what I think about ACHEWOOD, and pointed out that your description ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Wait a sec, didn't Joe Rice quit posting for Vitally Important Reasons? Just like the vastly successful and prolific Listen ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  I find "Cat and Girl" thoroughly generic. Punchlines that are obvious from the first panel, adolescent philosophy, and jokes that ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "I would say that for someone who read over a hundred strips, if all you took away from it was ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "It’s just that, both on those occasions when Joe has quit, or as with the founding of LTUWR, it seemed ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jones, one of the Jones boys wrote:

  Joe, didn't the NYPD tell you to stop throwing darts at the female populace?

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I love Alex. Here I am, not doing anything, and he has to take a shot at me. ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  You don't have to take it all personal, Greg.

  So I think you ruined the blog. So what?

  No need to get ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  I guess that depends on how you define "not doing anything", Greg. Since Alex's issues are with your posts on ...

• At May 8, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  Is it actually worth driving all the way back to the comic shop just to get a 50 cent refund ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  [quote] Craig, I’m the fellow who does those bits, and even I can tell you, without any snark involved, that ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  "You just want the lameness to end, and sometimes that means swinging your arms and stomping your feet."

  Well, there's always ...

• At May 8, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  "As for stealthwise, aren’t you going to drive back to the comic shop for next week’s books? Take the issue ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Craig, I'd like to point out I talked specifically about a DC book as well. Northlanders, man. Not ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  And let it be known that I find AlanMoore kinda funny, at least so far.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "Since Alex’s issues are with your posts on the blog, you’ve been doing what bothers him for quite a while ...

• At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Well, just the first time, then.

  Honestly, though, I was just trying to give you a light hard time about ...

• At May 8, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  Jack: No sweat, totally. Yeah, my first "quit" was really melodramatic. No way I can deny that ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Hey, that's fine, Alex. I know you don't come around here that often, but when you do, you never ...

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Greg, I never "went off" on anyone (re-read my responses, please... i was barely even responding to her) and I ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  "There are so many crappy [comics]. There are crappy ones made, at least in part, by people whose work ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sorry, sir. I just equated you calling me "lame" with calling me "stupid." Plus, there's the whole "you ...

• At May 8, 2008, Craig wrote:

  I'm sorry, I did say I was done. Seriously, this time.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Well, to be fair, you did ruin the blog with your lameness.

• At May 8, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  That was a joke, for anyone keeping score at home.

  Greg, if you get overly defensive again, Joe Rice gets a ...

• At May 8, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I wouldn't want Joe to win, so I'll keep my cool.

  Come back tomorrow when I talk about how good Moon ...

• At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:

  "Listen, if, at this point, you’re down on “comics today” it’s your own fault. Stop reading such crap. ...

• At May 9, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Most people I know who are "down on comics" are downloaders who never paid for the book to begin with, ...

• At May 9, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I’d love to join the “fuck yeah” brigade here, but Jesus, was an analogy that explicitly compared the value of ...

• At May 9, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I'll admit that comment was stupid, sorry, Lynx. The only defense I can say is that I wasn't talking ...

• At May 9, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  "Jesus, if this is what passes for “smart fan” writing in comics,"

  I don't think anyone mistake Rice for a "smart ...

• At May 9, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  Re-reading the post, it seems pretty clear that Joe's analogy is about dating in general, and not really about ...

• At May 10, 2008, Rohan Williams wrote:

  I'm not the world's biggest Joe and Alex fan, but I can't see anything in that post that equates a ...

• At May 10, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  It's a matter of language. He talks about fine objects (in terms of works of art), and then immediately mentions ...

• At May 10, 2008, Joe Rice wrote:

  I guess all three of those colleges left out how to accept an apology.

• At May 10, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  lynxara.

  What you are saying he wrote, he did not write. The implication is not there. We are not "choosing to ...

• At May 10, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  So, um...

  Hey!

  I had a dream last night where I saw a trailer for a Kamandi movie. It ...

• At May 10, 2008, Rohan Williams wrote:

  Who played Kamandi, Jack?

• At May 11, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:

  Some hot young star, but no name, just the knowledge that he was one, in that way that can happen ...