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Quad Cities USA - Guide to Davenport & Bettendorf Iowa and Rock Island & Moline Illinois
 

A Stockingful of Commentary On Comics

March 28th, 2020
A Stockingful of Commentary On Comics

Sorry this is coming to everyone so late. I’ve got my normal job, all the side activities I’m involved in and then holiday stuff to divide my time up so small I’m surprised I find any time to sleep at all. This is of course compounded with the comic news cycle being slower then frozen molasses this time of year. Even what few stories I’m seeing aren’t really things I want to discuss at any length (https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/12/20/dc-comics-eric-m-esquivel-nightwing-previews/). A writer at DC is being accused of being an abusive creep, which other then saying... Read More

Mighty Con Was A Pretty Mighty Con

September 6th, 2018
Mighty Con Was A Pretty Mighty Con

On Saturday and Sunday this Labor Day weekend was another Mighty Con. This time no one had to worry about the air conditioning going kaput, because it was held at the QCCA Expo Center which doesn’t have air conditioning. Which is definitely a creative way to address complaints. All kidding aside it was a decent weekend both for the convention itself and on a personal level. I arrived at the con early on Saturday, partly because I was with other people, partly because I had other things going on that day and needed time to get them all done and partly because we were aware that Saturday was... Read More

Comics Are Great To Read, Free Or Not

June 3rd, 2017
Comics Are Great To Read, Free Or Not

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May, but various comics shops have mixed things up to get new readers into the fold. Regardless, it’s been a great idea. FCBD has its start with Joe Field, comic book retailer and columnist for the Comic Buyer’s Guide, a now defunct comic industry magazine. He recommended the practice of comic book stores giving away to increase the readership of comics since people were going to the theatre to see comic book movies. His suggestion was very popular among his readers. Jim Valentino, one of the co-founders of Image Comics,... Read More

Is Dark Horse’s Future Dark?

February 21st, 2017
Is Dark Horse’s Future Dark?

On Tuesdays when the shop gets their new comics in to process so that they’re ready for the shelf on Wednesday, we divvy up things up in several stacks. This usually leaves us with a stack for all the big five publishers, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW and Image, as well as a stack for Dynamite to keep the small publisher stack from getting too tall. A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I noticed that Dark Horse had a vastly smaller stack compared to all of the others. This got me thinking about how Dark Horse stays in business when we seem to get only a few titles a week. Looking at comichron.com,... Read More

Where Is The Comics World’s Don Draper?

September 20th, 2016

In a previous article I talked about NPR’s coverage of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being on the cover of Civil War Two: Choosing Sides #5 and how it seemed more like a Marvel PR stunt then official international news. This led me to wonder why comic books are so terrible at selling themselves. I can remember the first time I saw a television commercial for a comic book. It was about five years ago while watching Doctor Who reruns on BBC America. There was a commercial promoting Fables, a DC/Vertigo comic about how the Grimm Fairy Tales characters are adjusting to life in the 21st Century.... Read More