Long Box Extraction: Nextwave

One thing I wanted to start doing "little" blogs on when I got really set on talking more about comics in my free time were sort of "catch ups" on some of those series that are in full swing but you don't really here much about. Y'know, the WASTELANDS and FEAR AGENTS and so on's out there. Recently though I was redoing my collection, putting away about three long boxes of issues I had sitting out of line with the rest of the stuff in my bedroom that is a testament to the joke that is my sex life, and as I was putting integrating all these new books in with the old, I couldn't help but be compelled to start pulling out all these wonderful titles I haven't read in ages, or never got back to once they finished. It took me about an hour and a half to get all this junk settled, but once I was done I had a full longer of material in there of what I just mentioned, old runs I just haven't read in forever, some series that had ended not too long ago and I never had a chance to go over them again in a sitting or however many, or titles like I mentioned above that are going on right now and I want to re-season the old brainmeat with. ..


...Basically that was a giant expository ramble for me to say "I'm going to be rereading a bunch of shit in my comic book collection and talking about them." I don't know why I feel the urge to drag people along with my gibberish, I just do.


So, as you can see, the first set of issues of the near 300 I pulled to go back over was Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's NEXTWAVE, a book that I absolutely adored when it was out and did something like four reviews on for the AICN site. There are titles I've been reading for the entire three+ years I've been doing reviews for there I haven't even reviewed for the quatro, let alone something that was only a dozen on the nose. I couldn't help but be a whore for the book though; it was unbelievably under-read and since I had that fabled "Power of the Press" I just had to speak up on its behalf. It was such a wonderful ride in the sense that it made your brain wonder just what the fuck was going on but at the same time your nuts (or female equivalent) hurt from laughing so hard at the said shenanigans. And going on near two years after it's unfortunate end, it's still damn near as funny.


Admittedly, I do think the overall tone of the book has worn a little bit. I think the rise of technology and social networking and sites like this one and the fact that several times a day ever since I've pretty much had Mr. Ellis talking in my ear with his Tweets and Mailing Lists and lord knows what fucking else he's wired into on my computer and phone, have kind of dulled his more extravagantly bugfuck crazy sense of humor on my tastes. Don't get me wrong, that British bastard still knows how to get me to burst out with those out of place HA!'s when I'm at work and a Twitter about god knows what comes to me via text, but the "My Robot brain needs beer" line and stuff like that has kind of worn a little thin.


Cable talking about "Techno-Organic Prolapse" and calling Boom Boom "X-Bait" though? Fucking amazing.


I still loved pretty much everything about the book though. The cast he assembled from pre-existing characters and his own creations in The Captain and Dirk fucking Anger (and you know a character is awesome when you feel obligated to insert the f-bomb as his middle name). The random emergence of other established Marvel characters for the gags was always impeccable too. From Fin Fang Foom trying to put people in his pants to the Celestials calling Machine Man @#$% to goddamn Forbush Man and his special, uh, Forbush powers? - it was all perfect. For someone who probably couldn't tell you more than five books the company produces, Ellis sure knew how to use some of these characters and creatures for a big gag. And I could go extolling praise for Dirk Anger alone, but anyone who read the book knows pretty much how much of The Man he was...


And the book looked gorgeous too. It damn well better have since apparently it's the combination of Immonen's pay grade and the inexcusably low sales of the book that caused it to go into hiatus I guess, but at this point I don't ever see it coming back. Without either one of these two on it, there's no point, and I didn't mean to sound like I was pointing a finger at Immonen, I was cracking wise there, but I still can't help but wonder what the fuck was going on that this thing couldn't even generate the 15K or whatever in sales to keep going. That's a different tangent though, and as I was saying, this thing looked amazing. It really had to be Immonen and his more "cartoony" and somewhat angular and highly detailed style that did this. It had just the best timing in the comic book sense to pull off all these bits while at the same time just looking breathtaking because of all the elements that composed each panel, and especially the splashes and two page spreads. All around just an amazing book to look at.


I love this book so much, I'm still crushed there hasn't been an over-sized collection of it all in one volume. It's something I'd gladly shell out the cash for and carry around with me, and the art has to look astounding with being blown up the extra couple inches. I love this so much so that I've been thinking of PM bombing Jen Grunwald via the Bendis Board with various nude photos of myself until she finally caves and pushes the project through for fear of losing her eyesight, be we all know that's more a call for a restraining order and maybe even a weekend in a holding cell than anything. There's got to be a better way to organize a rally for this though, I just am not much of a thinker past trying to scare people with my pasty manflesh. Still though, it got me that D I needed instead of the F in Business Law II in order to get my degree in college. You just never know...


So, yeah. NEXTWAVE good. Will definitely buy three copies of it if it ever comes back in hopes it'll never leave again. Next up out of the box is Ennis and McCrea's HITMAN, but that may take a while. Hopefully in the meantime I can continue with the "State of" blogs I want to make a thing, but I felt more like talking about this instead. All in due time though, all in due time, and this little book here might even be a part of one of the points I want to make in the next segment, which will probably be about Marvel. We'll see though.


And now, my beer is drained (yay Octoberfest!) and I need to be up in six. I'm out. Cheers...

The State of Things (Part 1)...

I've been lazy. Lord fuck have I been lazy. Burnt out, tired, worn down, a shell of my former self - all also pertinent terms for what I've been, but mostly I've just been fucking lazy. No reviews in two weeks, no blog in three, and I've barely made it to the gym a handful of times in 18 days now. So little done from the guy who typically works forty-five hours a week, spends ten in the gym, cranks out three pages or so of "written word" (if you can call it that) and crams in a novel or two, dozens of comics, and even some electronic delights instead of sleep. I'm not going to get into where's and why-fores for all this (you could blame some of it on my shiny new Samsung TV I imagine, but then I'd have to cut you. It's like a child to me) it's just time to change all of this back to how it should be, which means it's time to sit down and talk comics.

So apparently Robert Kirkman wants change in the comic book industry. Good for him because I do too. And yes, I know this news is old hat by now, and everyone has weighed in everything and then some on the subject matter and yelled and hollered back and for at each other. And everyone has come up with their own solutions to "Save the comic book industry!" and on and on and on. And I'm here to say: You ain't saving shit. You're not saving anything, I'm not saving anything, the heads of every last publisher and distributor can sit down and brainstorm their fucking tits off - nothing is coming of it.

How the industry is going about itself as it tries to decide what it wants to be is almost never really going to be able to properly deal with what ever perceived problems it has in itself because, quite frankly, I don't even think we know yet. Is it too small a reader base? Is it practices and decisions made by the bigger companies of the industry? Is it that there's not enough quality coming from, or attention being paid to, the smaller publishers and Indie guys? Is it just the fact that people as a whole in our society just really don't read as much anymore?

I haven't a fucking clue. I have an opinion, and I have some observations I tend to make, and to be perfectly honest I actually tend to have a mad on at my fellow comic book readers, and on occasion lay a lot of blame as far as some issues I personally have with the comic book industry on them and their buying habits. I really do, unfair as it may be, but it's not unlike how some of your more "knowledgeable" or "discerning" movie goers will cite problems with Hollywood and the vast movie going public. Elitest? Yes. Snobby? Sure. A little close to home? Probably. I just happen to think people are too willing to settle on their comics, or too afraid to branch out, or that we as fans (yes we, I'm not going to sit back and point fingers at everyone else, I'm as much a problem as anyone in this matter. I'm not that big of an asshole, I just play one on TV) are a bit on the fickle side, or have a tendency to turn on our comics like a White House aide come scandal time.

So I'm going to talk about comics. Really what I want to do is more or less highlight parts of the industry. I want to break down the publishers and talk about what they're doing, what they're printing, and really what, if any, of it is worth a damn or dollar. The "Big Two", the "Biggish Two" and whatever Indies I delve in (which, sadly, isn't as much as it should be though I honestly do try). I wanna talk pull lists, cover price, ads, Previews, distro, and the people that read them... pretty much the full nine yards. Given that I couldn't be bothered to type anything up for almost a month I figure I'm either due for a long string of these things, or I'll never do a damn one of these again now that I've puffed up my chest and acted all full of resolve. Fuck you though, I've got a pretty new Flat Panel TV. And item of that type is like fucking crack to me. I won't rest until I've fidgeted with every setting, replayed every last video game I own, and redone every last piece of wiring I have. Before you know it, I'll be huddled up with a pint of HagenDaas watching repeats of Gilmore Girls in HD. Oh god HD...

Also, it's starting to enter election time, and if anyone knows me they know it's best to put me on Suicide Watch as this fucking mindless Dog and Pony show and travesty to the term "Society" progresses forward. I might have to hook up a Bourbon IV just to numb myself to it all. Or take the HST approach to dealing with the banality to come.

I'll try to be back in a couple days with something hopefully worth reading. For now though, time to go into "Ohhhh... pretty!" mode as I start cramming random Blu-Rays into the PS3 to see what all this tech I bankrupted my unborn child's future for can do. Please, someone call me off work tomorrow will you? I'm out of "New $2400 TV" vacation days...

Cheers...

The One That Got Away...

Lately I've been getting a little melancholy and reminiscing on the "good times". There was a time, not so long ago, where I was with someone special, that I thought could mean great things to me and looked forward to being with as often as I could. One of those rare occasions where an outside force brings that much joy to your life that their mere presence could fill you with as much giddy anticipation as the final bell during the school day.

But for some reason that feeling left me.

All those times of looking forward to being with them just cut short inexplicably. Just like that, and all I was left with was a scant handful of memories and questions. "Why? Why did you leave me? What did I do wrong? Please, please could you just come back to me for a little while? I can't stand not having you around..." and then you're left with quiet. Just yourself in a room, sitting and waiting, hoping and praying, not sure of where to turn to next...

... Fuck I miss Desolation Jones.

Seriously, what the fuck? You have this kick ass comic, written to bittersweet perfection by someone like Warren Ellis with all the gallows humor you could ever want, but just that smattering of hope that gave it that little bit of edge, and outstanding art by the man, the myth, the legend J.H. Williams III and then POOF! two years later you're siting there realizing that nevermind it's not coming out now, they didn't even get past a third of the second arc. It's so terrible to see, that something like that can just whisk itself away from you, without much ado or warning but leave you with some hope that it just might come back some day if you're really hopeful and patient. Has this ever happened to you?

... what? What did you expect me to talk about here? A girl? Please...

Fell. Desolation Jones. Gutsville. The Infinite Horizon. That's just a few off the top of my head. Seems like I can't go more than a quarter year with something either just disappearing into the night, falling off the face of the planet, or just being yanked from me because no one else loved it as much as I did. Doesn't it seem odd how this just happens in comics? That one month you're checking off the same old on your LCS order like any other day and all of a sudden you notice you're a little light. You do a little digging and notice something isn't shipping that month. Odd, but it happens, and you eagerly anticipate it being there the next month and curse the extra four weeks wait under your breath. Except that four turns into eight, then twelve. Then you're seeing re-solicites for it and you're back to your two month buffer, but you're starting to lose hope and you do damage control as you try and make your brain forget it exists until you actually have the next issue in your hands. If there is one...

And don't forget the books that are cut down before their time. I'm still lamenting the lack of Nextwave in my comic book diet. The Order, Irredeemible Ant-Man, The Thing, hell even Gotham Central - despite having three years plus - wasn't enough. What can I say, I'm a greedy fuck. I'd gladly cancel half those companies respective lines if it meant getting those books back up and running. Like we need those fucking Classified books anymore. But alas, you soldier on...

There will always be a new batch of comics to take their place, and for the most part you can always find a replacement I guess. Something like Fell and Gotham Central, okay, not so much. But there will always be a new Order to rally behind, or someone pitching a Thing series or what have you, but it's never the same. And maybe you'll get lucky, like with all those SCUD fans who were handed the happy news that the series would come back after its nine year hiatus and you'll even get a pimp ass complete edition for your patience, but that's about as slim a chance as us getting Planetary before year's end (please, god, for fuck's sakes at least get us the last Planetary!). More likely than not though, you're going to have to get used to disappointment.

You always hurt the one you love, but sometimes the one you love hurts you back. That's just the nature of the beast. Comics are a tough trade, and you're going to get your heart broken. But thankfully there'll always be someone there to catch you while you fall. Thank you Fables and Criminal and The Walking Dead, I don't know where I'd be without you to lead me through all those troubled times.

Cheers...

Wildstorm Subsiding...

Wildstorm has always been kind of an oddity to me since I got acquainted with it as I was also re-acclimating myself with comics at large during my college years (about eight-ish years or so ago). I knew what WildCATS was obviously - I was absorbed into the world of comics right in the thick of the 90's - it just took me a while to realize it was now an entity of DC. I heard all this buzz about these books called PLANETARY and THE AUTHORITY that I had to get on the bandwagon, at which point I saw there was a lot more to this imprint than just being a refuge for Jim Lee and his Image properties. There was this universe there sure but for the most part it just seemed like a place to put the more "miscellaneous" titles. Superhero books that were more "edgy" than your usual thoroughfare, and that benefited by being in the "larger scheme" that a shared universe could bring to the table, but not really ever needing to acknowledge it if you know what I'm saying. They weren't constrained by the big picture, because it's not exactly something that came into focus much since all the books were doing their own thing.


And there was so much great stuff at that time too. The aforementioned Warren Ellis creations, Joe Casey was still working wonders with the WildCATS themselves, and Ed Brubaker was showing off what I still think is his best work to date in SLEEPER.
These books all had such energy going for them, and combined with some long-running classics like Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY (sporadically of course, but still apparent) I thought this was pretty much as good a line of comic books as you got. Slowly though, that's sadly started to change.


One of the first "blows" obviously had to be Casey's WildCATS 3.0 coming to an early end. Critically lauded, but not the greatest of sellers, which is a shame because Casey was really working some big ideas and putting some great new twists on the concept of the Superhero, now in the 21st Century. I guess there was a sort of "push" to integrate the line back together again, show that they did indeed intertwine by having the COUP D'ETAT storyline, which had consequences for all the books, including SLEEPER and was designed (I assume) to push the Authority more towards the next logical step for the group: Controlling the United States. Honestly though, as someone who was reading the majority of the books from the imprint at the time, this looked like a bad idea from the get-go, and it played out that way too. Like I said earlier, the reason I think these books even worked in the first place is their autonomy, and tying them in together in a somewhat "event" fashion really didn't do them any favors. It's sad that WildCATS 3.0 wasn't working from a sales perspective, but that's the price you pay for being different I guess.


Now, the universal approach wasn't really working out, especially since the books that people really cared about were either not related at all (like Astro City still) or so loosely related they really didn't notice the Authority's power bid and just kept doing what it is they did oh so well (PLANETARY and SLEEPER). But again some quality stuff emerged, in the form of more non-universe related books, and again still, stuff more on the "fringe" that didn't quite fit with any one company but had that "Wildstorm Feel" as a creative venue. These being books like Brian K. Vaughan's EX MACHINA and another Warren Ellis creation, DESOLATION JONES. And when they came out, these books were easily amongst the best out there, the point I've really been trying to make this entire time. Just like Vertigo has established itself as the place for books "on the edge" I've always thought Wildstorm worked best on the "fringe" like I said just a second ago. The universe approach might have been failing, but with creative endeavors like Ex Machina and Desolation Jones, and still with Astro City and Planetary occasionally showing up to the party, do you really need it to work when it's failed to before?


Apparently, a couple years later, someone still thinks they do.


The Wildstorm panel at Comic-Con this year was dedicated to the premise of stripping the books back down and setting a backdrop for Wildstorm as a whole (this would be the reason why I decided to go on this little trip down memory lane). After the Grant Morrison debacle of '06 with the "flagship" books this imprint rode on, I thought things would go back to the "put it out there and see" approach, which I was a fan of because it was giving us books like STORMWATCH PHD and Gail Simone's WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY and so on. Now, I'm not going to dismiss this "re-allignment" of sorts as this could really work out to reinvigorate these books. I just worry that there'll be too much focus yet again on making things "Universe Friendly" at the sake of letting creativity reign. WildCATS 3.0 might not have worked, but while it was out there it was excellent and that can never be taken away.


I personally think there just needs to be more emphasis on creating more new proprietary stuff, or even related yet creator owned characters, that can play in the universe and use some toys, but not depend on it to tell its stories. The INVINCIBLE approach so to say, in that how occasionally invites some of the scarce but fellow Image superheroes like Savage Dragon or how he shows up randomly in different title here and there, but his story is still all his own and there's really no Universal effects to be seen or had because there's only a Universe in the loosest sense of the comic book term. The fact that we rarely see more brand new creator-owned products from the WS imprint makes me worry as to how much of a priority they put on scouting them. And the plethora of movie and television show adaptations that have been funneling through there fill me with no less than a sense of dread. It really does seem that there's no real sense of identity for Wildstorm these days and the cohesiveness they're looking to bank on has never really worked for them before.


I don't want to be all gloom and doom though, because there is some quality talent involved in this project it looks. Christos Gage seems to be a big ingredient in the mix, and his Stormwatch PHD was a good example of what I've been saying all along about playing in the sandbox, but using the toys however you wish. If this is a sign they're going to adopt that approach, there may be hope yet. Pulling in Abnett and Lanning, who are doing stellar work on Marvel's cosmic branch right now in NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY also helps appease my worry. Combine this undertaking with a plan to find more material in sync with something like the Ex Machina's and Desolation Jones', or to create something like a Sleeper within the universe, then maybe a storm really is on the horizon.

Anyone wanna design me a logo for this thing?

I'm incompetent and lazy, but will make it worth your while by, uh, buying you a six pack and not hitting on your sister? I'll do something, whatever, just make it cool and snazzy looking okay? Awesome...

Balance...

Something horrible has happened. Something I never ever foresaw coming to be. Something that makes me wake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night with a queasy sensation typically reserved only for those that just found out they're going to be a parent for the first time...

... I dropped below sixty books on my pull list.

I KNOW!! It's fucking anarchy it is. I have no idea how this situation sneaked up on me like it did. Just like an STD, you're going about your business per usual, you're washing your bits in the shower and BAM! you find a growth the size of fucking Topeka poking out of the forest. Terrible, just terrible...

But, there is some good in this. This means I've got some flexibility in the old pull list again. I can go ahead and do some more experimenting on what I decide to spend my hard earned "I didn't go nuts and gun down everyone at work" dough for being such a diligent worker at Monotony Central. So what do we go for here. What should I try to expand my comic booking horizons and add some meat to the already rather filling allotment of books I buy? Do I go out and find some more Indie projects to expand my knowledge of what's out in the industry? Or do I maybe stick closer to home and just find some mainstream Big Two books I've been neglecting? My pull does feel rather light on the Fisticuffs and Spandex crowd. Maybe. Let's break this down.

Admittedly, my first reaction is to go to the Image or Dark Horse, more the former than the latter. Part of it would be because, well, I really do tend to not care as much about Marvel and DC as much as I used to. Part of it is just because they're in full-on event mode, and neither one of their offerings intrigues me at all. Another would be, well, I guess I'm just a little bit of an elitist when it comes to my comics. I want the best and only the best, nothing wrong with that, and honestly, the best typically comes from these two companies these days, at least when comparing them to DC and Marvel direct. Vertigo is still king IMO, but I already buy enough from that line.

I still love my superhero books, don't get me wrong their either, but quite frankly, and again IMO, if you have anywhere near a decent comic book budget (say 20+ books a month. If all you can afford is a handful of books a month, by all means, get your Batman fix or whatever and be happy) and all you buy are mainline superhero comic books, well then you're a bit of an asshole. And the converse is true too. If you're spending all your wad on just Indie books or less mainstream work like what Vertigo has to offer and so on, and not at least maybe getting your Superman on, then what the fuck is the point? Comics, arguably more so than any form of media out there, can and are about anything you want them to be. To waste all your time on just one genre, or completely avoiding it is to not be using your Comic Books for what they're worth. If books like FABLES, FEAR AGENT, DMZ, WASTELAND, CASANOVA, WALKING DEAD, CRIMINAL, FELL, and on and on can't muster any enthusiasm out of you they're you're either the most boring person ever, or don't even know what I'm talking about when I name drop books like those. It's like telling me all you watch on the teley are Sitcoms. That's bullshit. Expand your horizons or GTFO. Buy SCALPED you bastards, it's better than probably 99% of what you're buying right now.

End rant. Moving on.

So, DH and Image are out, and I don't really see anything from the outside like Avatar or IDW et al, and like I said I've been kind of hankering for more Supes stuff, probably thanks to them being so prominent this summer in the Box Office and how much fun I've had watching movies this summer thanks to that. The dilemna continues though: there's really not much left to pick from there either. I pretty much buy what I believe to be the best from both companies, with some person exceptions even though I know the books are good (like how I'm not buying the GREEN LANTERN stuff because I'm already getting my Cosmic fix from the Marvel equivalent like NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which I think are just as good as the ring-bearing equivalent and I just tend to lean more that company's way when it comes to those types of books). But I've got my CAPTAIN AMERICA's and JSA's and THOR's covered, and while I might be jonesing for more comics I'm not about to buy average or subpar ones to fill out the roster. What to do, what to do.

Be patient, that's what.

One of the best things about comics, there's always more coming. I might have been down on Comic Con a couple days ago, but it's not like comics do get totally forsaken there. You've just got to stay on your toes. We already knew that James Robinson was going to be starting a new JLA series soon, lets start there. STUMPTOWN coming this fall, if you don't know what that is then you deserve to be slapped. Greg Rucka doing creator owned Crime Fiction. That's all I have to say. AGENT OF ATLAS ongoing? Sign me up. And no sooner do I drop the PUNISHER MAX series that word comes down Jason Aaron may in fact write it for a bit. I'll tentatively pencil that back in. Give me more people, give me more. I've got an addiction to feed and I've already tied off my arm (the irony not being lost on me that I use a heroin metaphor after dropping Jason Aaron's name). My stack of TPBs to the side is only shin deep right now. That's like, two weeks tops. Feed me. Feed me Seymour! *breaks out in musical*

... actually, lets not do that.

Time to break get my COMIC BOOK TATTOO on finally. This is gonna be good.

Cheers...

Comic Book Tattoo...

For those of you who don't know, is an Anthology-like book that just came out from Image yesterday. Every story is told using influence from a Tori Amos song, though I'm not exactly sure on the context of how. I don't know if it's a passing reference, or just using imagery from them or whatnot, but what I do know is that this compilation is some 400+ pages, weighs in at several pounds, is almost double the width of your normal comic, and is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen in all my years of comic booking.

Cover by Jason Levesque
I honestly had no clue what to expect with this monstrosity. I didn't even pay attention to anything in the solicits for it besides that it was an anthology with some really solid talent listed like Jonathan Hickman, Christopher Mitten, Mike Dringenberg (of who I'll get back to in a second), Ryan Kelly, Colleen Doran, Pia Guerra, and with promises of raw, undiscovered ability to be showcased as well. The "theme" of the book was tertiary, I just enjoy seeing new talent, which is why I've been a fan of such books like the FLIGHT series or now the POPGUN collections. Yes, they're always a mixed bag, anthologies always are, but in my experience the good typically outweighs the not so good. There's something kind of beautiful about short bursts of pure talent like the stories in books like these, and the emotions they can harness in just a few scant pages. They themselves may tend to get lost in amongst each other and the weight of the book, but at the time they can hit quite hard, and leave just that bit of ephemeral feeling around your brain and the pages as you move on to the next story. It might not always work either, you might not get invested enough in the shortness of the tales, or some of them might just not hit you hard or gently enough depending in the time they have/use, but I always thought that was quite something to behold if and when it does work, and more often than not they do.

Really, what astounds me about this new influx into this section of the comics' world is the presentation. Now this, this is the kind of comic book you could commit a harsh police interrogation with. Sadly I haven't really had a chance to read it yet so I can't comment on that, but just from a quantity standpoint alone this has to be one of the greatest deals in comics. I don't know how or why this is only at the $30 price tag, but at the least I think they're a lot of explaining to do as to why I'll probably be reading this for a month at thirty bones, and yet my stack of single issues this week cost me half over that.

And yes, it does look gorgeous. As if that cover weren't enough, it gets even better inside. I mentioned Hickman and Kelly and Guerra, but there's a ten page... exhibition I guess you could say by an artist named Kako that is jaw dropping. One of the most stunning examples of comic book art I've seen in a long while. Andy MacDonald, Eric Canete, Dean Trippe, James Stokoe, and lets not forget David Mack. Those are some talented people, and the rest of the book holds its own on the whole. The Jonathan Hickman piece alone might have inspired a new tattoo for me, which, speaking of, this is called COMIC BOOK TATTOO after all, I'd be remiss if I didn't show off my little contribution to that term:
















And now you all know just how big a geek I really am. But when I'm presented with something like CBT, how can I not be? It's stuff like this that really makes me love comics, no matter where they come from. If only people were a little bit more passionate about them besides as means of escapism, imagine what we could accomplish, or where the industry might go. It's fun to think about at the least.

Cheers...