Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1 was an excellent introductory issue for the new Heroic Age series, so I found my curiosity revamped this week in seeing that the issue had been adapted for the various iDevices, and was available for free download. To have that portability- to carry an issue around and get friends and coworkers to look at a comic on the fly-that's one of an ereader's most redeeming factors, so I was glad to have that option made available. But my skepticism of the digital format remained- what intrinsic differences arise from reading a comic this way, having already devoured the issue in all its glossy goodness? Would I really want to expose my pals to a paper edition first? A few thoughts on the digital reading experience...
Most Comixology-derived readers take the audience on a guided walkthough of the panels and narrative boxes, as if the "camera" were on a track that pans and zooms across the page. This act itself is disconcerting as a reader, as you're now physically interacting with the page at least once per panel, if not more, instead of the simple act of flipping every 2 pages. Even then, this break-up of the page seems arbitrary at times, restricting what you read to whatever portions the editor deems relevant. H&M's title page is a perfect example. In the digital copy, we're guided to a small opening caption, zoom out to the splash image and credits, and resume the plot by zooming in on the narrative boxes towards the bottom of the page. Penciler David Lopez filled the single picture with smaller, intimate moments, taking the time to show each nameless thug in reaction to the Pym arrows, but in the digital edition, you'll have to manually scroll around the page to observe this. When I first read the issue on paper, it forced my eye to follow the arch of the arrows from bow to target. Here, the frame kills any fluidity in the image.
Likewise, pages with creative paneling don't suit a rectangular screen well. It's a great idea to frame Bobbi's dreams with her bedsheets, but no ereader can suit irregularly-shaped panels without elements of the surrounding picture cutting into the frame. Digital-exclusive comics could pull this off well by playing with the cut, or in being aware that the Phantom Rider overlaps into the next screen and writing around that fact. This awkwardness in translation will continue to exist in all comics that aren't presented in strictly rectangular format, or aren't made with the ereader in mind, and no work of art should have to compromise its intent of presentation for its mode of presentation.
With digital adaptations, it's almost exclusively the art that suffers. The supplementary backstory at the end issue is the only part of the issue that's improved upon when digitized- having a guide through the myriad text boxes ensures that you read them in proper order and within context, though it requires a page with a 200+ word count to be find a measure of efficacy. There's nothing particularly wrong with digital formatization, and the uninitiated will likely enjoy a digital issue as much as a floppy one, but if I'm left with an option, I'll opt for the edition that'll permit a looser, freer reading of the material. Without the synchronicity of artwork and prose, you get a flurry of text followed by an oddly-sized image that ultimately kills the open-endedness of actual reading experience.
Am I the only one who thought that when I saw the futuristic T-shaped mask he's wearing here, as he sells some kind of high quality audio laptop? The rest of the outfit works pretty well too!
While I'm not able to go to the con this year myself, I had to point out this story once I saw it. The reverend Fred Phelps, the "God Hates F**S" preacher, set out to protest in front of Comic-Con 2010 because it was 'idolatry'.
He was met by the most amazing counter protest I've ever seen. A crowd of cosplaying comic fans mocked him with cries of "WHAT DO WE WANT", "GAY SEX", "WHEN DO WE WANT IT", "NOW!"
To everyone who participated in the counter protest, know this: You are awesome.
You can see some of the images below, or check out the full gallery by following the link. (including video)
Super Heroes vs. the Westboro Baptist Church [Comics Alliance]
When Gail Simone apparently killed off her Birds of Prey characters Savant and Creote, she advised dissenting fans to be patient. Issue 3 pays off in an odd way by really changing where the characters stood and will continue to play out in the arc. Nothing I could go into though, without a few spoilers, so check back after the jump.
I literally clapped my hands together and said OhMyGodYesssss when the friendly staff member at my regular shop held this book out to hand it to me. Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung finally - finally - return to this title with a nine issue limited series. I will spare you paragraphs of pontification and cut to the chase: it's not just good, it's the best thing Marvel has going, period.
Read on for the pontification and petty quibbles!
Really, pretty self explanatory. This shot was released along with a USA TODAY article about Kenneth Branagh and Chris Hemsworth, and how the production team wanted to make sure they were ready for Comic-Con.
Large version of the picture below. Chris has definitely put on a LOT of muscle for the role.
I've been working my way through the second volume of the first-ever complete collection of Bloom County and whereas the first seemed haphazardly littered with pop culture footnotes so random they seemed as likely to have been drawn from a hat as placed by any sort of conscious design, this volume is more solidly curated and gives me more of what I really wanted: a glimpse at the mind of Berke Breathed.
It's no secret that we at PinkKryptonite loved Detective Comics issues 864 through 860, Greg Rucka and JH Williams III's "landmark collaboration" on Batwoman, as the dust cover of the "Elegy" hardcover states. It's an elegy for its redemptive heroine and her upbringing, and it's one of the most eloquent, heartfelt books to tackle the rise of a gay crusader. I can only praise this book; This isn't a review as much as it is an analysis of what this book does so damn well.
Out of nowhere, DC has joined its competitors in the iProduct's ever-growing App market with the debut of their own ComiXology digital distribution app. The set-up and presentation works exactly like its older competitors, the Marvel and Boom! Studios app, but there's a significant difference in the meat of the application; the comics up for sale.
I have a confession to make: until this weekend I had never been to a comics convention. On Friday I mentioned to my boyfriend that I wished I could be in Charlotte, NC - the Queen City, no joke - for Heroes Con because a bunch of my favorite web comics creators were going to be there and there was a group discussion scheduled with Fables creator & author Bill Willingham. Willingham's conservative personal views aside - and there's no pretending they don't show up in Fables - I have really enjoyed that book and I would have loved to hear him speak about it.
Friday was a fairly lousy day in silly, pedestrian ways and by that night I was throwing myself a pity party complete with full catering and a sad clown. Rattling off all the things I could be doing if I went to Charlotte was a central feature but my boyfriend very patiently reminded me that a day trip to Charlotte was an entirely attainable goal. By Saturday morning my mood had drastically improved and I was up early and on the highway.
I am so glad I went.
Jim McCann, known to many as the nicest guy in comics, has been on a hot streak lately with the release of his Dazzler One-Shot and Hawkeye and Mockingbird ongoing, which debuted this week. It's a commendable effort, given that he's been formally dispatched from the Marvel offices for a month now. Obviously, his new position (really, more of a lack of position) still allows him to publish stories through the House of Ideas, but it also enables him to work on his own creator-owned material, like The Return of the Dapper Men, an OGN due out this fall through publisher Archaia.
It's a big leap for someone once deeply embroiled in Marvel's PR, and definitely a change in the creative process for an author who pays so much attention to the continuity behind the characters he's written. I consider McCann's artistic signature to be the enthusiasm he imbues in his subjects, the way his words crackle with a contagious love for everything his characters have been, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles a universe of his own craft. McCann proved his versatility in style this week with Hawkeye & Mockingbird, writing a team-up concerned with its relationship dynamics. Clint and Bobbi's bond has secrets and insecurities, while Dazzler has to strike a balance between her mutant life and so-called normalcy. These are elements which are thematically relevant to a queer audience, but applicable to a wide swath of readers. His Dazzler embraced the pop and glam around the songstress, but never came off as "a gay author does a Lady Gaga homage." Jim McCann keeps it real, and Pink Krytponite wishes him the best in his future endeavors.
You can read more on Jim over at [Comic Related] or by checking out his [twitter feed]
