Reader’s Polls, Angouleme’s American invasion, Content Mills Strike Back, and More— Comic Bookmarks December 22, 2024
From the Archives
The holidays caught up with us and nothing got finished this week so hereare two pieces by Mike and myself from our days at Panel Patter.
Scott Cederlund
Mike Baxter
Headlines
Heidi MacDonald
TCAF is one of those shows that’s on my list of shows I’d still like to get to someday. But part of that was the charm of having a show inside of a working library. It would be cool to see a show where the Maple Leafs play but I don’t know if there’s someone of the mystique now gone from the show. At least in my mind.
David Brooke
I think this poll is both worthless and fascinating, and that’s probably just me. In each of its categories, “Others” apparently dominates everyone’s best books of 2024, speaking to the diversity of tastes, styles, and voices that are currently available in comics.
But then taking “Others” out of the results, some of the top 3 selections here are just baffling. Look, I like Ariel Olivetti as much as the next guy (ok, that may be a lie) but it just boggles my mind that he’s one of the best artists of 2024. Did he even have a book out last year? The article’s writer David Brooks can’t even list something by Olivetti. Josh Gad was one of the best writers? Panels from Flash or Moon Knight really “represent the sheer power of the medium, delivering emotions and spectacle that stay with readers long after the page is turned.”
Part of me wants to think there’s some serious ballot stuffing going on here but there’s another part of me that’s willing to believe that I’m just that out of touch with the mainstream comic fan.
On Comic Sites
But Valnet is a content mill, isn’t it? You know it. I know it. You don’t think that there’s a chance you don’t know it, do you?
Business
Heidi MacDonald
To be honest, I felt a bit of like this was Brian Hibbs being very Hibbsian (can I pen that word?) about his views of the comics industry. It almost reads like a greatest hits of his but then in the 2nd half, it takes a compelling turn as he starts to talk abut Diamond Distributors and what Diamond means for fostering a diversity of publishers that can participate in the direct market. Diamond has been having a lot of issues lately but Hibbs explores their place in distribution in comparison to the limits of Penguin Random House and Lunar Distribution.
REMINDER: I will continue to order and shelve this book, for anyone who may need it.
— Mike Sterling, Comics Guy (@mikester.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 7:50 PM
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Mike Sterling of Sterling Silver Comics is one of the good ones.
Reviews & Features
Dean Simons
Look, I just read and enjoyed the first two volumes of Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo de Felicia’s Void Rivals but it seems weird that ends up being a representative book among the Official Selections for a French show. Like there’s nothing else in all of American comics that met the French’s high standards like Void Rivals did?
Luke Henderson
I think we’re in a bit of a golden age for lettering in comics and probably don’t even realize it. I wonder if as lettering became a digital process over the last 20 years if it’s taken letterers that long to realize what they can really do with digital lettering. I really like when we can look at the elements of the comic page and see these artists making choices and we’re seeing a lot more of that lately in lettering.
Daniel Elkin
I really wish Elkin wrote more stuff.
When people say that kids aren’t reading
— RAMZEE™️ (@ramzee.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 5:07 AM
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I don’t know who this woman is but she’s a hero for saying this aloud. When my son was younger, it was tough to get him to read anything but he eventually discovered manga and as a junior in college, he’s an avid reader, often suggesting things to me that I should check out.
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