The Weekly Stop

Changes are coming to the site, so I'll have to make a habit of updating it weekly. Coming to life in the "Featured Comic" pages will be a new heroine STAR PISTOL created by Mike Leeke and yours truly. Also, plans are underway to spin off TANTRUM of the Amazing Liberteens into her own solo feature. And plans are to update the blog with weekly comic and movie news. Please check us out.

Weekly Updates

New material is the bane of a blog, but going forward, I'll have one regular update -- the comics I read (and hopefully loved). With this first return entry, I'll remark about the comics that bring a smile to my face when I see them in my store subscription box the past 6 months. "Starlight" by Mark Millar is wrapped up, but I loved it. "Jupiter's Legacy" has my favorite comic in the last several issues with this last issue #5. "AutumnLands" and "AstroCity" by Busiek are very good right now. And "Men of Wrath" with Ron Garney art that just wrapped up was immensely enjoyable. Those are my personal favorites that I'd recommend to anyone.

The Top 5 Comics Writers

Comics are a visual medium. For years, I'd keep buying a comic just to keep an unbroken string of issues. But after 30 years of that -- no more -- the artwork is more than half of the comic. That said, there are a few writers I will buy (almost) no matter how bad the artist because they're capable of writing a story that can prick to the heart. My 5 favorites are my favorites because they've written the best stories I've ever read in a comic format and some that are some of the best I've ever read - comic or prose.

1. Alan Moore is #1 for me. He's written several of my all time favorite stories and series: The Killing Joke, Superman Annual #11 (For the Man who has Everything), the 80's Swamp Thing run from issue #22 on. By volume and poignancy, he's number one.
2. Jim Shooter is my 2nd favorite. The Legion of Super Heroes has been a favorite series of mine for 40 years now, and the stories he wrote as a teenager helped get that ball rolling. His Marvel days were good quality like the Avengers Korvac saga. But the Unity series at Valiant, the Good Guys for Defiant, the Knights on Broadway for Broadway -- these were the best comic series I read during those decades.
3. John Byrne -- I can't remember a single story that Byrne wrote that moved me other than Xmen 137 when I was a teenager, but he has a knack for injecting vitality into a series with runs on Namor, Omac, the New Gods, Wonder Woman, Generations (World's Finest), Star Trek and many otherwise stale series.
4. Mark Millar -- too dark for some, but a homerun hitter with Kick-Ass, Wanted, Starlight, and many other contemporary series.
5. Kurt Busiek -- the Astro City Tales  did and do move me. The Confessor storyline once upon a time even started my waterworks.

There are honorable mentions like Straczynski, Mark Waid and others, but those are my top 5.

Dark Angel

There's something to be said for missing a good show the first time around. I'm certainly enjoying it now. When it premiered -- I recall -- I didn't watch it because of the hype. It was TOO hyped. Then after watching Jessica Alba in Sin City, she was suddenly an interesting actress again.  Looking at her old stuff led me to Dark Angel, and -- WaLa -- I get to enjoy an entertaining dystopia for the first time.

My Top Ten Comic Artists

This past Saturday at the Baltimore Comic Con I got to see 4 of the greatest comics artists ever. There was a lot of outstanding talent there -- longtime pros and wannabes. I made the statement 4 of the 10 greatest ever which begs the question -- who would the other six be? In no particular order, my list is:

• J.L. Garcia-Lopez
• Alan Davis
• George Perez
• John Byrne
• Eduardo Barretto
• Gil Kane
• Jim Aparo
• Bob McLeod
• Neal Adams
• ???