I'm gonna follow up on something I said in that last entry, regarding Marvel, DC, and creator-owned comics.

There's an inherent conundrum here: I'm angry at both companies, yes, so you'd think the natural thing to do would be to stop buying their comics altogether and to encourage others to do so. But it's not quite like that.

Look, most of DC's stuff is so bland and, well, corporate, feeling way too much like their books were put together on an assembly line (because they were) and pumped out like McDonalds hamburgers or something. But at the same time, they have Alberto Ponticelli drawing the crap out of Frankenstein, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have made the Flash into one of the greatest all-ages superhero comics ever, and OMAC is like an experiment gone violently wrong that somehow escaped the basement and got to run free for 8 months before DC finally got their shit together and put it down. Which is a shame, because I love OMAC. I will continue buying those books until OMAC is canceled and they inevitably play musical chairs for the creators on the other titles.

(that's one thing that always annoys me: Marvel and DC juggling artists and writers around so much that getting a nice team doing a long, solid run on one title is almost impossible these days)

Daredevil is hands down the best book Marvel is putting out at the moment, and anything that Jerome Opeña draws can gladly take my money.

What I'm saying is, yes, I hate the companies, but they've got some great, talented people working for them, and I like those guys and I don't want to see them lose their jobs. 

So here's what you do: Buy the good stuff, don't buy the crap. I don't care if you've been reading X-Men religiously for years, if it's really sucking, STOP BUYING IT. I wasn't saying to stop buying anything Marvel and DC related altogether, I'm just saying be more selective and go for the quality stuff. 

Nevertheless, you should still buy way more creator-owned comics than anything the big two are shilling. Here, let me help you with a nice long list of comics and graphic novels that you need to buy:

Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker
Fatale
Prophet
Glory
Haunt
Scott Pilgrim
Wasteland
Hellboy
BPRD (hell, ANYTHING involving Mike Mignola)
The Goon
Nonplayer
Orc Stain
King City (the collection is out next month, and this is my single favorite title in the list. BUY IT)
Godland
The Walking Dead
Chew
The Strange Talent of Luther Strode
Casanova
Criminal
Parker: The Hunter & Parker: The Outfit
Sharknife ZZ (out next month!)
Sweet Tooth
Locke & Key
Saga
DMZ
Northlanders
Old City Blues
Anything by guys like Paul Pope, Mike Allred, Warren Ellis, and well, any of the creators involved in the above titles.

I'm sure there are a shit ton more than this too, that list is just off the top of my head.

The biggest company represented in this list is by far Image, whose publisher Eric Stephenson seems to be the only man displaying intelligence when it comes to publishing comics, but don't count out Dark Horse, IDW, Oni Press, Archaia, and others. Hell, Vertigo and Icon are respectively owned by DC and Marvel, and they put out creator-owned titles. If Marvel fails, then Icon fails, which means no more Casanova, which is the single best science fiction comic being released right now. I don't want to see that happen.

So there you have it. Now go forth, buy awesome comics, support your favorite writers and artists, damn the spice, save the men, and fuck the police.

[Brett]