In honor of Independence Day; for my weekly iFanboy article, I wrote about eight seminal (to me) independent comic books. From the disastrously silly Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, through to the measured calm of Optic Nerve.

Happy Independent Comic Book Day

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On iFanboy this week, I write about the fact that the way many of us are getting our news has changed dramatically over time (i.e. reporting from Iran is coming directly from the people on the ground). With that change, the classic comic book depiction of extremely "good guys" and extremely "bad guys" is as antiquated as it is juvenile. We're ready for a more complex exploration of our heroes and our demons. The truly great works in comic books have always taken this approach, so why doesn't the mainstream finally follow suit?

Time for a new definition of the supervillain

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Damn, I completely forgot to post my iFanboy articles here for the last 6 weeks! You guys have a lot of awesome articles about comics to read, because I've been having a LOT of fun writing them:

June 11, 2009
Sonia's Linkage: from the sublime to the ridiculous
This is a list of some of my favorite comic-related sites. ONly 6 or 7, so it won't take you long to look at them, and you'll be glad you did. There's something for everyone, from art, to philosophy, to medicine, to... well it's all comic-related, so enjoy.

June 4, 2009
Symbolism in Art and Comics via Seaguy and Caravaggio
I had a bit of an epiphany about the nature of symbols as used in fine art throughout history. I suddenly realized that one of the reasons that I love comics is because they do a similar thing, because the imagery carries many types of meaning, just as fine art did, particularly before widespread printing and reading was the norm. I used Seaguy and Caravaggio as a simple case study to discuss this. It was fun.

May 28, 2009
The Mundanities of a Seminal Art Movement: Comics in the 80's
When I was a kid, I always thought it'd be terribly dramatic to live through a great time in history, but recently I've been made aware that the 80's was just that for comics. And did I know that I was living through something intense? No, of course not. I just assumed that comics would always be this great and took it for granted. Here I examine some of the groundbreaking titles that I was under-appreciating at the time.

May 21, 2009
Media Immersion Addiction: All Things in Moderation (or not)
I love doing marathons of movies, books or comics. Can't help it, they seem much improved in quality by watching them endlessly. Here are just a few that have rocked my world lately.

May 14, 2009
Hair in comics, science fiction, cartoons, and action figures
This article is exactly what the title implies; a completely ridiculous critique of what I feel are the most important hair styles around. Don't as me why I notice these things, but I do, and it's fun.

May 7, 2009
Logo Design: The Intoxicating Allure of the Undefined
The second article I wrote about logos in comics, here I discuss why it's maybe not the best idea (commercially and in terms of work load) to do a different logo on every single issue of a comic - like Todd Klein did on Promethea. But when it's done so beautifully, it transcends commerce and reason.

.........
So that's that, sorry about forgetting to post the links here. In future, if you're wondering where my thursday articles are, you can always check my iFanboy profile page where there are links to all of my old articles.

My friends at Isotope did a theater takeover at the Balboa, and so I finally managed to see Star Trek (and yes, waiting 3 days _did_ feel like I waited forever.) I couldn't go see it at one of the big screens 'cause I had to stand up the whole way through (my back is still tweaked so I'm not allowed to sit down yet), and it was absolutely worth it. In fact, I want to stand up through it for another 2 hours!

Best part about my Isotope friends: They dressed up with me :) I posted some of the silly pics.

In April it was 13 years since I moved to San Francisco. Amongst all of the incredible things I saw in my first week here, one of the first things that I did to feel at home, was to find a comic shop and buy a comic. That comic book was the 100th issue of Hellblazer.

13 Years Since the Move to San Francisco, and Hellblazer #100

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This week on iFanboy, I'm examining two kinds of comic book logo; Old-school logos, and reinvention logos. The first unchanging, just like the unchanging heroes it represents. The second genre grows and adapts to appropriately emulate more changeable heroes.

Comic Book Logo Design: Old-School and Reinvention

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Last time I wrote about this (in February), I wrote about the physical traits of the noble superheroes. This week my article for iFanboy flips the coin, to look at the wretched and the broken: Synesthesia comes to the world of super villains.

The Stench of a Supervillain (getting too close for comfort)

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This week, for my iFanboy article, I wanted to list my favorite single issues of comics. But when I got down to writing, I realized that there are three that have stuck in my brain for about 20 years now. Way back when superheroes were still a dirty word, these were three comics that completely bewitched me: Daredevil #168, Detective Comics #569, and the Uncanny X-Men #128.

My First 3 Favorite Comics

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I finally posted the pics I took at WonderCon three weeks ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretbean/sets/72157615580662493/

In this weeks iFanboy article, I talk about how re-reading The Sandman books after 20 years gave me a new perspective on the stories and on myself.

The Sandman Saga: Mind mapping a chunk of my life.

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What kind of reading can provide truly healing brain-candy while I rest my herniated disc? Why Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys of course! Just the kind of brutal humor I crave.

The Boys - Perfect Convalescence Reading

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In my latest iFanboy, I use the space to imagine what it would it be like to meet a superhero in real life. How would they smell, what would a handshake feel like, what kind of person would they be? What would your first impressions be, and how would that change over time?

The Scent of a Superhero (Getting Under the Skin of Superheroes)

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After a week off due to illness, my weekly iFanboy article is back! This week (as part of the iFanboy annual "stack week"), I'm looking at the giant pile of "graphic novels" that I've bought and not read yet, why I bought them, and what I'm looking forward to about them. It's a pretty great stack!

Stack Week Part VII: Stockpiling Entertainment

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This week I guested on the iFanboy "Pick of the Week" comicbook podcast. Listen and mock my complete inability to agree with Ron and Josh on pretty much anything.

02.08.2009 - Episode #170 - Amazing Spider-Man #585

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Last week I couldn't write an article for iFanboy because I had stomach flu. This week I found out that I have five bulging discs in the lower lumbar region of my back, and so I forgot to post the article (even though I was a total superhero and still managed to write and post). So here is a link to that article now, in case you're interested in reading a slightly odd article about why it's okay to read less comics every week. Really this is the kind of article that will be more useful to those die-hard comic readers, who're spending more time and money than they actually want to. It's definitely not as much of potential interest to my non-comic-addict friends. But anyway, here is the link to my article this week: Quality vs. Quantity - Walking away from comics which_don't deliver

I also recorded a podcast on Friday, that will go live on the site on Sunday where I dicsuss the weeks comics with 2 guys. It's a regular podcast that the 3 iFanboy owners do, but one of them was sick, so I filled in. I'm not sure how it came out, but I'll post a link here when it's up.

Next week, when I'm feeling better (hopefully), I will return to writing weird reviews of comics that were reprinted in 2008, but were published loooong before that... or maybe I'll write a more introspective thing about comics, and family, and heritage... I'm really not sure what will grab my interest, but it'll be fun to see what that is.

Meanwhile I'm going to be taking prednisone and wearing a weird medical corset for most of the days so that I can heal these swelled bit of me that are doing painful pinchy things to the nerves in my back and down my legs. Can you believe this is all from lifting boxes wrong when I moved house? What a maroon! To be honest, I'm kind of impressed with myself for managing to function so well for the last 6 weeks, (although obviously it would have been better to have found out earlier and not kept damaging it)... but anyway, I'm pleased to know that I can handle this much and still get on with life.

Now it's nearly 5am and I'm probably tired enough to sleep through the back ache. Enjoy the article, or read an older one that's not as much about being a collector. You can pick from them here.

This morning I looked at my flickr contacts page, and every single one of them in the UK had pictures of the snow. Apparently it's snowed more than it has in 18 years. My dad is off work. It looks nuts.

Sam said that it made him miss the snow, which hadn't occurred to me. It's funny because I remember him building snowmen when he was a little kid, and I had to put on half my wardrobe to traipse to the pub with my friend Tara. It took forever to get out, and then was almost impossible to walk in the snow and ice.

Missing the stuff never even entered my mind, I was too busy congratulating myself on being clever enough to have moved to San Francisco (where it was hot this weekend, people were wearing t-shirts and shorts). So I thought about it; do I miss the snow? The answer is still no, while it looks really pretty, I don't miss the cold and grey skies that accompany it, and at the end of the day, I'd still much rather live my day-to-day life in a temperate climate.

After a week off due to illness, I'm back in the saddle, reviewing this amazing comic from 1957. This is the classic tale of a country girl in the big city, looking for fame and fortune. It's surprisingly toothy stuff at times, particularly considering the premise. This is another one that I'm happy to lend out, it's a weird one, but it'll grow on you (particularly if you've been watching Mad Men and miss it lately...).

The Best Reprints of 2008: Leonard Starr's Mary Perkins on Stage

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http://www.last.fm/music/The+Who/_/A+Quick+One%2C+While+He%27s+Away

For the longest time, I though that the lines 4 and a half minutes into this song were "jello jello jello jello" etc. Turns out the line is "cello cello cello cello" etc. Weird huh? I still have no idea what they're on about, even if it does sound great.

http://www.lyricsdomain.com/20/the_who/a_quick_one_while_hes_away.html

I just watched The Man From Plains: Jimmy Carter, by Jonathan Demme. As the current president's rule draws to a close, I can think of no better way to celebrate this than to watch this documentary. I'd forgotten what it was like to have someone in power who cared more about people than about money.

The Carter's relentless pursuit of peace, their desire to create a nurturing and healthy society, a healthy planet and economy, for the entire world, is so refreshing. All of the things that Bush had actively avoided dealing with, or consciously obstructed, are the very things that the Carter's have tried to resolve. What an amazing couple, what an inspiring life.

Lately I've made a lot of jokes about people seeming obsession with "change", their attitude that once Obama comes to power, everything will magically change overnight and get better (http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1212/). It seems naive and impossible, and I fear that they're putting too much on to him, creating impossible expectations that will ultimately dissapoint. I think now that while this is a healthy concern, perhaps I'm being too negative. Simply the fact that people want peace, prosperity, a healthy world... these are massive changes. The majority of America wants change, that alone is a change and is a great thing. Maybe all of these years of miserable, apalling, uncaring government have reminded people of what is important. Maybe that alone is a remarkable and beautiful change.

Growing up in the '80's, under Thatcher's interminable rule, I felt like an outsider to society, someone who's values where at odds with the popular consensus. I remember now what a relief it was to observe the ending of that, how it felt to realise that other people cared deeply about the very basic human needs of others. It was liking being invited in from the cold, as if I were being invited to participate in the "normal" world, included. This feels like that kind of change. Even if there are no great changes for years, having an honest, trustworthy, intelligent president is a massive change. Everyone is ready for a leader with a holistic view of the world and a rational perspective of what it takes to create a nurturing and strong society. This is a change all of it's own.

A book that broke the genre; this comic is a delicious combination of expressionist art and brilliant graphic design. Read about why I think this work of genius is the quintessential work by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. If you ever read anything by them, read Signal to Noise.

The Best Reprints of 2008: Signal to Noise

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