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Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Biggest Hottest Comic Stories for Week!

Once again, using my uncanny powers of buzz-assessing plus the use of the blog tool HitTail, here are the ten most-searched for topics on my blog (not counting Tiffany Fallon, who actually wins every single day):

10. Emo Viking: Brian Wood's tale of emo Vikings, Northlanders,
still seems to generate buzz.
Has anybody made a T-shirt for Cafepress with "Emo Viking" yet?


9. JMS: J M Straczynski's apparent DC Defection at Wondercon
last weekend makes him the #9 hottest story on our list.



8. "Edward Norton Hulk"Norton!


7. Bayou: No doubt thrust into the spotlight due to its Glyph Awards nominations,
Zuda's webcomic has made a strong showing in search topics.


6. "Destroyer Duck John Byrne": The significance of this phrase was only made clear to me with a little research...it apparently involves Steve Gerber's comic Destroyer Duck and a character called "Cogburn."



5. Stephanie Brown's Return: This has been a constant for many weeks now. And yet I keep thinking the "hints" in Robin are red herrings...(then again, apparently things like brain death means nothing in comics...was her body cremated, intact, or what? she might really be a zombie ninja.)


4. Wolverine Is A Skrull: The first released image in Marvel's "stealth" Skrull Invasion PR campaign has apparently captured the imagination of the public. Like Logan's bio needed to get any more convoluted.


3. Batman Final Crisis/Batman RIP: Does he die? Does he become a New God?
And what about those obscure 1950s stories with the oblong-headed aliens,
how does Grant work that into the continuity?


2. Jackpot: Does Marvel fully comprehend just how popular Jackpot/Sarah Ehret is?
Where is Jackpot's Marvel Legends figure?


1. Herb Trimpe: Honestly, the sheer volume of interest in this man,
his statements about the industry,
and his work completely took me by surprise.
He's obviously touched a nerve.

12 comments:

  1. I've been thinking about the Herb Trimpe thing, and I think it's more of a "Who the F*** is this guy???" kinda phenomenon.

    I think the same thing applies to Bayou, since people aren't really hitting Zuda's website up in droves....

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  2. Re: Spoiler/Steph

    Heh. How delicious would it be if in the years to come the only person still dead in comics is Steve Rogers?

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  3. Re: Jackpot

    How funny would it be if she took over Spidey's book? That's when Quesada will admit that OMD was a terrible idea.

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  4. I think a lot of people grew up on Herb Trimpe's comics when they were kids, and now there is a newfound appreciation for him because a)nostalgia and b) he did have/has a very consistent, recognizable style.

    The bigger picture is, Trimpe is emblematic -- and not afraid to talk about -- some of the ageism that has affected the comic industry, and how a whole generation of dependable, consistent artists with "classic" styles got put out of work in the late 80s and early 90s in favor for the Liefeld/Image school of hyper-stylized art.

    He's also doing part of a new Hulk special for Marvel, apparently.

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  5. "How delicious would it be if in the years to come the only person still dead in comics is Steve Rogers?"

    --see, that's a gimmick Marvel should totally play up!

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  6. "How funny would it be if she took over Spidey's book?"

    I think the marketability/fanbase for Mary Jane and related entities has been vastly underrated.

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  7. Part of me wished that the Spidey Loves MJ book went in the direction of MJ being the superhero. I would have enjoyed that a bit more than her pining after Spidey. But it's hard to hate on my boy Peter. So I was happy with what McKeever did with the series.

    But still...MJ/Liz as heroes by night would have been delightful...

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  8. Val,

    I don't agree with your assessment of Trimpe interest, but I think it's because of a philosophical difference between us. I think the only reason people continue to read superhero comics past the age of 15 is nostalgia, so I don't think any particular artist brings a feeling of nostalgia more than any other artist - with the exception of a given person's favorite artist.

    I also don't feel bad for any of the "ageism" that's happened in comics. It's just like any other business, change or die, and if a person becomes outdated because somebody younger can do a better job, then that's the way it is. (That's a tangent, though.)

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  9. I think the only reason people continue to read superhero comics past the age of 15 is nostalgia.

    I read superhero comics because they are fun. Heck, I didn't start reading them on a regular basis until I was about 16.

    The only characters I feel any nostalgia for are Superman, Flash, and Firestar. And I don't read any of those titles currently.

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  10. David,

    There's probably some thoughts I should just keep in my head. I think to blanket everyone as only reading superhero comics out of nostalgia is probably a little presumptive on my part. I guess I don't get the appeal of the average superhero book and the only way I can rationalize why something like, say...I dunno...Booster Gold has readers is purely out of nostalgia.

    (I chose Booster Gold because I read the first few issues of it. I found it lacking anything redeeming except for decent pacing and an embrace of elements of those fun Justice League International comics from years past.)

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  11. Anonymous5:12 PM

    ""How funny would it be if she took over Spidey's book?"

    I think the marketability/fanbase for Mary Jane and related entities has been vastly underrated."

    Of course you do. :)

    Oh...and Spoiler is really coming back. The irredeemable will be redeemed, as well. And it was planned all along.

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  12. My guess on Spoiler's resurrection: She never died. Leslie pumped a few exotic drugs into her that made it seem like she'd died, gave her a convincing 'deathbed moment' with Batman, then spirited her off someplace away from the vigilantism and madness that had come to define her best friend's life. And if that meant he thought she was a killer, then so be it.

    That's what I'd do, anyway. (Actually, what I'd do is not kill her off to begin with. But nobody ever listens to me on the folly of bumping off supporting cast members.)

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