Pages

Friday, June 29, 2007

OS Nation:
Dateline June 29
(a.k.a. "A Cup Of Me")

As I'm on the road again for work, here's some odds and ends, wrapped in one easy-to-digest low-fat sugar-free post:

* My blog has tripled in hits over the last two weeks, and I'm not exactly sure why -- but I'm encouraged and grateful.

* There have been some interesting developments regarding my blog and opportunities to expand aspects of it into other media. That's all I can say at the moment, but I'm a busy little bee right now.

* I'm of the opinion that making boob jokes about solicitation covers may only get me so far in my career. As such, I've decided to expand the scope of this blog to include REVIEWS and INTERVIEWS. These should start next week.

* My "Goodbye To Comics" memoir has sort of mutated. Right now I have a completed manuscript. Half of that original manuscript is going to be used for a work with a distinctly historical slant. Given my background in academics (you wouldn't know it from my boob jokes but I do have one), I'm rather looking forward to this.

The other half of the memoir -- the half with all the sturm und drang -- is something I really need to ponder about. It was, at one point, going to go in a very "Oprah" direction. But I'm not sure if that is how I wish to frame the story of my life. I would rather do something more creative and not as "black-and white" and tear-jerkery.

I have other considerations about it, mainly that I'm not sure if I wish to open this can of worms again. On one hand, maybe doing so would "shine the spotlight" and help "fix" things for women in comics. On the other hand, this is not what I wish to be solely remembered for as my contribution to the industry. On the third hand, (three whole hands!) I have a story with a lot of important feminist issues besides those relating to comics.

So that part of the memoir is still under development. Hey, maybe I could submit it as a graphic novel proposal to "Vertigo" (insert laughter here).

* It looks like I'm going to the San Diego Comic Con this summer. This is my first time attending, and I'm pretty psyched.

As a whole, I'm also pretty psyched about developments in mainstream comics in general, if only to say that I'm enjoying reading my weekly stack. The news of McDuffie scripting "JLA" is exciting. I am very pleased with the "World War Hulk" and "Annihilation: Conquest" events, and between the two my bank account shall be quite drained. I'm on the fence about "Spiderman" developments. "Countdown" is an odd series that seems to be stuck in the early-to-mid 1990s and I've dropped it. The whole "Flash" debacle was a mess and it would take a lot for me to regain trust in this title again. "Sinestro Corps" sounds interesting, but it certainly seems as if Kyle is getting set up for another fall.

And the comics I continue to enjoy the most tend to be the kid stuff: "Marvel Adventures," "Spider-Girl," and the cartoon "Legion of the Superheroes." Why is this? Sometimes, I just want to read good, self-contained stories about superheroes.

Sometimes, I just want to read good self-contained stories about superheroes.

That's all for this week's "OS Nation." Next week: why I can't get my books out on schedule (oh wait, that topic has been taken...)

8 comments:

  1. awesome. go see transformers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sinestro Corps was super-fun, even though yeah, Kyle's looking like the fall guy again. I read the first issue twice on the train last night.

    "Sometimes, I just want to read good self-contained stories about superheroes."

    I read the first two trades of Dan Slott's She-Hulk back to back a few months ago when my roommate brought them home, and as much as I enjoyed it, what I came away with was a lot of frustration at all-consuming event comics that derail storylines for no real reason beyond extra sales. As good as She-Hulk is, how much better could it be if Slott was able to get in more than a couple of issues in a row without being hijacked by Disassembled, Civil War, World War Hulk, etc? It's enough to make me miss Bill Jemas. For all his crap, he at least let folks tell a damn story.

    Rant over, and congrats on all your exciting new word-based opportunities, yo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. * My blog has tripled in hits over the last two weeks, and I'm not exactly sure why -- but I'm encouraged and grateful.

    Undoubtedly everyone heard about the new drawing of you in full superheroine regalia. :-)

    So that part of the memoir is still under development. Hey, maybe I could submit it as a graphic novel proposal to "Vertigo" (insert laughter here).

    You know, all kidding aside, publishing it in a graphic novel format is an interesting idea. I think it's certainly worth considering.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know whether it explains the increase in hits, but I certainly find it a lot easier to read since the redesign. White background = good for person wearing glasses. Also, you've been posting a lot more recently.

    /delurk

    (BTW, I created a Google account to post this. Does anybody seriously "read and understand" their Terms of Service?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I must be part of that increase. I've been reading you for several weeks, and I do it from Spain, because in my country few people talk about comics. It's really useful for me, despite the problem to be reading about comics I won't be published in Spain till next year...

    I'll try to comment more often, but, you know, english could be a barrier for me(I apologize for that, of course...), because it's been a long time no using it... Congratulations and keep up the good work.

    By the way, 'Transformers' IS awfull. Love the robots, hate the film and Michael Bay...

    ReplyDelete
  7. well a small part..probably very small is thanks to me as all the weird creepy people who follow my stuff follow links like lemmings. i don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing yet. i do have weird people following my work.

    but yeah..if you do (yes i know it was jest) go for the vertigo book...i would deffinitely draw it if you had no one else to do it. i work cheap and realistic.

    i haven't had the time to even get to my comics this week...hopefully tomorrow i can get caught up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the general increase, but I know I switched to reading this blog regularly from some other feminist comics blogs after I started getting increasingly irritated with them around the MJ Comiquette thing. Your stance there could explain some of the increased traffic over the last few weeks. Glad to hear you'll be posting more commentary.

    ReplyDelete