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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

How Far Is Too Far In Comics?

April 1st, 2019
How Far Is Too Far In Comics?

While I was working on my list of comics to order from Previews last month I noticed a surprising change to two Marvel series I was ordering. I was looking over the Marvel catalog section of Previews when I noticed that two of the series I was ordering from Marvel had made a change to the pricing of their War of the Realms mini series and the Avengers tie in issue to the same event. The average comic book is thirty two pages long and averages four dollars per page. For some reason Marvel listed War of the Realms issues three and four where listed in Previews for thirty two pages for five dollars. Normally... Read More

Defenders Under The Sword of Damocles

March 24th, 2019
Defenders Under The Sword of Damocles

On February 18th, 2019 Netflix announced the cancellation of shows The Punisher and Jessica Jones (https://deadline.com/2019/02/the-punisher-jessica-jones-canceled-netflix-marvel-krysten-ritter-jon-bernthal-1202535835/). With these cancellations that marks the end of the Marvel/Netflix Defenders universe of shows. So, I haven’t talked about The Defenders shows in awhile, mainly because shortly after I posted my article about season two of Iron Fist, they canceled Iron Fist and the only thing I could add is that I was looking forward to a season three of Iron Fist and now we weren’t... Read More

‘Iron Fist’s’ Second Season Could Be The Best Of All Marvel Second Seasons

September 28th, 2018
'Iron Fist's' Second Season Could Be The Best Of All Marvel Second Seasons

So… let’s talk about season two of Iron Fist. And I don’t want you to think that’s a condemnation of season two. I would go so far as to say that season two of Iron Fist is the best show of all the second seasons of Marvel’s Netflix series. Which came as a big surprise to me, as I’m sure it did to most people. Not that I hated the first season, it just wasn’t the show I expected given the source material. I was definitely expecting more out of season two, mostly because the show runner for season one, Scott Buck, was placed in charge of Inhumans after he... 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

Marvel Universe Heading to TaxSlayer Center!

August 30th, 2018
Marvel Universe Heading to TaxSlayer Center!

Marvel fans, assemble! Make plans to attend Marvel Universe Live- Age of Heroes at the TaxSlayer Center (1201 River Dr. Moline) this weekend! Shows will take place on Friday Aug 31 at 7 p.m., Saturday Sep 1 at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday Sep 2 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Spider-Man, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy join forces with Doctor Strange, master of the mystic arts, in a race against time to recover the Wand of Watoomb before it falls into Loki s hands. This ancient artifact holds immeasurable mystical power and would allow Loki to achieve his eternal quest to crown himself... 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