No Clever Title Needed

No specific point to make nor any actual essay, but instead a general blog post containing a handful of random thoughts. Everyone does one of these at times. Why not me?

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Dwayne McDuffie passed away this week. I’ve never been a fan –  not that his comics were bad, I just have not read many of them – but I still felt an effect. We all did, really. That’s the thing about comics and the industry and the community around it. It is so intimate.  When an event occurs or news drops, we all respond in some manner. We all look around at each other through the various internet outlets, expecting a few words. Creators communicate with other creators. Critics to critics. Fans to fans. And all of these words, these respones are visible to everyone around. The culture of comics is tightknit. I may not be familiar with the work of Dwayne McDuffie like most are, but I still felt the impact of his loss. Twitter blew up (rightly so) with many very kind thoughts. The responses from industry professionals had to be the hardest to read. I quickly gained a sense of the man in a short period of time. He was loved by many, and he truly did add to the creative landscape. The most interesting bit about him passed a long Twitter that day had to be this video.

For someone like myself, who knew his name to a degree but not much else, this video really does a great job of telling you what the man was about. A guy after a good story and diversity in comics. Two concepts I can certainly get behind. From what most professionals said about the man, it seemed McDuffie was the type to speak up for what he believed in, yet he could also walk the walk as he did actually do the work, bringing what he believed to life. Milestone, the comics publisher he help found, was the key example of that. McDuffie seemed like a classy dude.

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The Mountain Goats are close to releasing a new LP entitled All Eternals Deck. Last night they preformed a new song, “Birth of Serpents,” on Lettermen. It was a cool performance, and I am excited for some new Mountain Goats. Check it out.

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I usually grow tired of the “physical media is dead” conversation (Print Still Cool), but PopMatters ran an interesting enough piece this week. I simply just want to reccommend reading the article; a conversation cannot really take place unless it is read. I will say though that what makes this one different is that the author of the article tends to stay away from the “future arguement.” Rather than claiming CDs as dinosaur stuff, he takes more of a critical approach, pointing out the flaws of the format. Oddly, I found this an interesting enough arguement for the death of CDs. The author had a few valid points. Plus, the criticism was not limited to only CDs or Vinyl; MP3s were dissected too.

Overall, it contains a few points worth a thought. Check it out here.

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A great column from Mr. Tim Callahan this week over at CBR discussing Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and Tim’s thoughts on comics as a reader. I feel Tim brings up some points I have felt myself before. The idea that the world just throws way too much at us anymore. All of this media constantly being thrown in our face, wanting to be consumed, and because of this a question comes to mind: do we fully appreciate anything anymore? Do we ever slow down and focus?

As for the idea of whether or not everything produced (comics wise) packs substance, I do not feel I could say comics are necessarily lacking. There are more than a few books coming out currently that I feel offer more than the typical cliches. Comics still suck me in more than anything else, and that is because of the substance I find in their stories and artwork.

It’s a good read, whether you’re a comics fan or not. Read here.

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I’ve been having fun with this blog so far, and I hope anyone reading has found it at least some what interesting. I know I am certainly not one of the best bloggers online and that my skill as a writer probably lacks, but I have enjoyed this experience and will continue to do so as long as it continues. I’m not sure how you the reader feel about it, so if you are reading this please feel free to leave a comment. I would appreciate it. Again, I know I’m not a cool site like iFanboy or something, but I feel I am offering something here. I would like to hear from you.

Peace.