David Welsh reconsiders Shojo Beat and realizes it’s the format that’s not working for him.

North Beach street invaded by balls. (Via TBAiT)

There goes the mortgage payment — Kyle gets lured back into purchasing comics when visiting the Isotope.

"What everyone should know about Blog depression" is a hillarious bit of parody. Honey, being ranked #148,926 on technorati is no reason to be depressed — I’m #724,819.

Sigh. Video game critic says that The Sims games should be rated "Adults Only" if Electronic Arts does not take action against modders who patch the game to allow players to see that Sims have a manequin’s genetalia.

Yeah, that sounds like a class that could help me solve my problems. Yech.

I’m sure none of my friends are surprised here:

Dorothy Parker writes you, you wonderfully urbane, witty boozehound, you.

Which Author’s Fiction are You?
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Found via BeaucoupKevin.

Alright. Now I can say it. When I talked about how the San Diego Comic Con has changed over the years, I wanted to say something about how corporate it has become. At the time, however, I didn’t really know how to articulate that sentiment without sounding like I was overindulging in big business cynicism. This recent trip, however, helped put that into perspective.

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If ever asked about my publisher allegiances, I will usually declare myself a Vertigo fanboy (that is if I don’t express my annoyance at the question). In my waning youthful days of comic reading, I got excited at the sight of a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label because those often turned out to be the most interesting stories. When I got back into comics, I specifically looked for Vertigo titles, sampling several solely because of the Vertigo logo. I hadn’t read any Vertigo titles at that point, but the brand identity was one I knew represented the kind of smart, story-focused comics I was seeking.

Sometimes I find myself in a semi-antagonistic relationship with the imprint similar to the one I feel with the Fox network. Both have put out series I’ve enjoyed greatly, only to see them canceled with much unfulfilled potential as the series struggle to find an audience and even canceled interesting-sounding series before the audience got a chance at them (oh Books of Faerie, we hardly knew ye). Do I get mad at the cancellation or happy to have seen a series that’s so much better than what the competition offers?

I’ve been especially frustrated with Vertigo of late as the imprint seemed a bit stuck. The only new title mentioned last year at San Diego, Trigger, faded from my radar as soon as story previews came out.

So this year, Vertigo’s San Diego presentations were a relief. I ended up walking out of the main Vertigo panel, as a dysfunctional microphone made trying to follow the presentation a very frustrating experience, choosing to instead go for a separate panel dedicated to Vertigo’s upcoming titles (which is where the bulk of my interest lies anyway). I was encouraged that there was (apparently) enough material for there to be a panel dedicated to "The New Monthly Visions of Vertigo". Happily, it looks like I’ll need to re-evaluate my pull list to make room.

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When I lived in Honolulu, one bit I enjoyed about the Honolulu Advertiser (an overall very, very weak newspaper) was Deb Aoki’s weekly comic. Aoki’s observational humor managed to capture the eccentricities of Hawai’i residents (sigh, we need to find a word for people who are from Hawaii but are not Hawaiian, it’s such a tongue twister to differentiate between the two otherwise) in a laid-back manner that made her strips feel like an illustration inspired by a night of funny anecdotes and cocktails.

While wandering the exhibition floor at San Diego, I stopped by one booth to glance at something that garnered my attention and jumped when I noticed Aoki’s names on a thin book at the table. I muttered something about how much I enjoyed her work, prompting the guy who was talking to me to grab Aoki, who was sitting in the back of the booth.

There’s something about the first time I get to let a creator know that I’ve enjoyed their work. Maybe it’s the feeling that, after the first encounter, my function changes from that of "fan" to "supporter" and the relationship turns to one of what’s new and what’s coming up with the fawning over talent becoming old news. It’s gratifying to see a creator realize that their work has been appreciated, as often happens in that first encounter. Aoki seemed a bit surprised to encounter someone who recognized her work like I did.

I did find some disappointment in the Bento Box collection, as my favorite strip (depicting one of the Gods of the Office, Queue goddess of the network printer) pre-dates the collection. However, getting to read some of Aoki’s more recent work (which I’ve had trouble following on the Advertiser’s website until I gave up) is a real treat. Maybe next time Queue will see print again.

Better yet, I learned that Aoki has a blog where she posts her comic strips, so I’ll be able to keep up with her work more easily. She usually posts a few words about each strip’s inspiration, too. Her recent entry about the Comic Con reminds me of a familiar sentiment of geek snobbery.

(Yes, finally, I finish a post about my San Diego experience.)

Nowadays when discussing comics, there are two different possibilities that comes to mind when discussing "the big two publishers." DC and Marvel still dominate the Direct Market, as weakened as it may be, but in bookstores manga publishers Viz and Tokyopop dominate.

I began to wonder if that parallel ended at dominating their sphere of retail influence as I sat in Tokyopop’s San Diego panel. There, Tokyopop’s editors made semi-veiled ribbing of their competitors, suggesting that Antique Bakery’s scratch-n-sniff bookjacket was derivative of Peach Fuzz’s scratch-n-sniff cover and, towards the end, letting out a "Let’s see Viz do that…" under the breath. It reminded me of Stan Lee’s legendary references to Marvel’s "Distinguished Competition," especially as Tokyopop seems to be pushing initiatives (OEL manga and shounen-ai line BLU) that differentiates them from their leading competitor.

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Tom the Dog reviews the Emmy nominations.

Well, that’s a pretty twisted knife holder. (via Librarian in Black, by way of BAiT)

Y’know, when I see reviews this negative I’m almost tempted to buy the book for the camp value. Aw, I’m not sparing any hard-earned comics money on Frank Miller and Jim Lee.

Neat. Beck performed at a Mission-district taqueria.

Next season on Deadwood: Time slows down, Wyatt Earp and an openly-gay theatrical producer.

Check out the tripy ad Dave LaChappelle made for Channel 4’s run of Lost. (via Pop Culture Junkies)

Jessica Coen harasses the stopped clock of journalism over Instant Messenger.

"All those asses."

My San Diego roommate writes about the experience in his Detroit News Anime column.

EW Popwatch predicts a wave of "The Sitcom is Reborn" stories, due to buzz-generating sitcoms on the fall schedule.

Okay, still no San Diego posts because Dorian pondered trade paperbacks DC inexplicably hasn’t released, including:

Amethyst: a young girl travels to another dimension, is
transformed into a teenager, can do magic, discovers that she’s the
prophesied savior of the kingdom, and has a bunch of cute boys
competing for her attention. Put it into a manga-sized trade (including
manga-size page count), and I think DC may have that cross-over book
they seem to want so badly.

I started to comment but, I got past 500 words and, at that point I figure it’s time to say it at my own blog.

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(I’ve got a bunch of San Diego reports coming, but City of Heroes is on my mind for the stort term…. more Comic Con thoughts tomorrow.)

With the newest City of Heroes update on the Test Server the most dreaded part, the gameplay adjustments, have been finally unveiled. This is always a frustrating experience. There are often needs for these "nerfs" (as they are often referred to in the MMO community) but, quite frankly, too often they end up striking me as poorly conceived.

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On empty nighttime streets, a group of kids wearing cat-faced masks (done in an Asian style — Kabuki? Noh? I’m not sure) gather for a game of hide and seek. The game, however, turns dangerous when a quintet of demons join the game (their faces perfectly matching the way demons faced are depicted on those Japanese masks that scared me so much as a kid).

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One can find some amazing sweets at a bakery hidden away in a residential neighborhood where an antique shop once resided. If you go into the Antique Bakery, you’ll be served your cake arranged in the most elegant way on beautiful, antique dishes. The staff there is an odd bunch. The pastry chef, Ono, is a gay man so charming that it has inspired obsession in all of his suitors. His apprentice, Eiji, is a former boxer who’s love for pastries is intense. He discovers the Antique Bakery after retiring from boxing and begs Ono to teach him how to create such fine sweets. The counter in run by Tachibana, a former businessman who abhors sweets but is very interested in the bakery’s mostly-female customer base.

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