Thursday, January 31, 2013

BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS: A When Words Collide Archive

One of the recurring features within my weekly CBR column in 2012 was something I called "Before They Were Famous" where I would write about the issue of a comic book series right before a more famous run began. I plan to do some more of these at some point in the distant future, but I wanted to have an easy-to-reference list of links to the entries I have already completed, so here it is!

BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS, via When Words Collide and CBR and me:

Swamp Thing #19, by Marty Pasko, right before Alan Moore came in and blew the roof off of American comics.

X-Men #66, the last of the pre-Chris Claremont era X-Men with what seems to be a pretty weak Roy Thomas inventory story.

Captain America #32, the Robert-Kirkman-written ridiculous conclusion to the post-9/11 take on the Sentinel of Liberty, prior to Ed Brubaker's relaunch.

Supreme #40, another pre-Alan Moore comic, where Jim Valentino and Tom and Mary Bierbaum tell something that resembles a story but isn't very good by anyone's reckoning.

Batman #403, by Max Allan Collins, immediately before Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli presented us with the serialized "Batman: Year One."

Incredible Hulk #330, which was Todd McFarlane's first issue but the last of the Al-Milgrom-written issue before Peter David's monumental run began.

Iron Man #115, written by Bill Mantlo, with David Michelinie and Bob Layton waiting to strike in the following issue.

Doom Patrol #18, the final Paul Kupperberg issue before Grant Morrison began his dadaist superhero masterpiece.

If you have any suggestions for other "Before They Were Famous" installments, let me know!

Monday, January 21, 2013

The Great Alan Moore Reread: The Super-Index

After sixty-five weeks, my Great Alan Moore Reread at Tor.com has reached its conclusion. To celebrate, and make it easier to reference any of the individual posts, here is the super-index of every installment of the series. Yeah!

I wrote a lot. But Alan Moore wrote a lot more. That guy's pretty good. Here's what I thought about almost all of his comics.

I have an intro post with It Begins and then I explore the Moore catalog with my brain (click on any of the entries to go to the relevant post and enjoy):

  1. Marvelman/Miracleman Part 1
  2. Marvelman/Miracleman Part 2
  3. Marvelman/Miracleman Part 3
  4. Marvelman/Miracleman Part 4
  5. Star Wars
  6. V for Vendetta Part 1
  7. V for Vendetta Part 2
  8. Skizz
  9. Doctor Who
  10. Captain Britain Part 1
  11. Captain Britain Part 2
  12. Future Shocks
  13. Swamp Thing Part 1
  14. Swamp Thing Part 2
  15. Swamp Thing Part 3
  16. Swamp Thing Meets Superman
  17. Superman
  18. Watchmen Part 1
  19. Watchmen Part 2
  20. Watchmen Part 3
  21. Watchmen Part 4
  22. Green Arrow, Vigilante, Omega Men
  23. Green Lantern Corps
  24. Halo Jones
  25. Batman
  26. From Hell Part 1
  27. From Hell Part 2
  28. DR and Quinch
  29. In Pictopia
  30. Big Numbers
  31. A Small Killing
  32. Spawn
  33. Violator
  34. 1963
  35. WildCATs
  36. Spawn/WildCATs
  37. Mr. Majestic, Voodoo, Deathblow
  38. Supreme Part 1
  39. Supreme Part 2
  40. Supreme Part 3
  41. Judgment Day
  42. Youngblood and Glory
  43. The Spirit
  44. Tom Strong Part 1
  45. Tom Strong Part 2
  46. Tom Strong Part 3
  47. Tom Strong's Terrific Tales
  48. Promethea Part 1
  49. Promethea Part 2
  50. Promethea Part 3
  51. Top 10 Part 1
  52. Top 10 Part 2
  53. Smax
  54. Top 10: The Forty-Niners
  55. Tomorrow Stories Part 1
  56. Tomorrow Stories Part 2
  57. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Part 1
  58. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Part 2
  59. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
  60. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century
  61. Lost Girls
  62. Albion
  63. Neonomicon
  64. The Alan Moore Legacy
  65. The 10 Best Alan Moore Comics of All Time
Yup.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Splash Page Podcast: 2013 Edition

My old Splash Page co-host, Chad Nevett, hates Captain America.

I know.

I know.

But it's not really his fault. It's his culture.

In this SPECIAL 2013 SPLASH PAGE podcast episode, Chad and I talk for nearly three hours about comic book stuff (along with other stuff, like housing prices and donations to old people). It may be the final episode of The Splash Page podcast ever. You should probably listen and learn.

If you didn't click on the link above, you can listen to it by clicking HERE!