Sunday, January 6, 2008

Fight the System!!!

So here we are in a new year and I've made two resolutions that I intend to keep, and about twelve others that I already broke so why list them here.

One is to get Megazeen back on a quarterly schedule. The Megazeen Sci-Fi issue will appear this winter, the One-Page issue this spring, an as-yet-undetermined issue for summer and hopefully a Christmas issue by the end of year. That's the plan.

The other is that I will NOT purchase a Marvel or DC comic book this year.

That second one is a lot easier to keep. Frankly, I've barely bought any comics that weren't in a dollar box in many months. Especially regarding the Big Two, the price has discouraged me, the slapped-together artwork looks too often like it's done on a conveyor belt, and the quality of the storylines fails to amuse me. This coming from a collector of over 30 years with well over 5000 books. Wake up guys.

That said, I have become far more convicted about the growing indy lines. There is some really hot stuff out there, made by guys that do it for the love of the medium, not the almighty dollar. So, if I can throw them some of my almighty dollars, instead of Marvel and Deceased, I'll feel a whole lot better and I'll buy them a hamburger.

So whilst in my favorite haunt (New Moon Comics) I picked up a handful of indies at Victoria's recommendation. Good calls all around. I'm going to continue sampling the world of indies and undergrounds this year in earnest, and reviewing what I like. If you have any recommendations please leave them in the comments.

First up is ABYSS from Red 5 Comics, by Rubio and Marangon, the guys that brought us Troops and Tag and Bink. Here's the skinny (as Victoria sold it to me): Imagine your rich dad died and you've inherited everything. Then you find out that your dad was Batman. Then you find out he was really Doctor Doom. This is a pure FUN comic, not too heady or goofy, made for comic fans BY comic fans, and it's great to see these guys doing well. The art and dialogue are simple yet clever, and they WORK. After years of Marvel and Diseased, it's hard for me to invest in another universe, but this is so worthwhile.

3 comments:

Ben said...

Does that include Hedge Knight? :)

~ Ben

jeremy said...

Dude, I'm so with you. I won't buy any books from either of the big two. But does that not include Dark Horse then?

Ugh.

I wish my local store had more indy books though. What they consider indy is Image. That hasn't been indy ever.

Joey Endres said...

I'm not trying to make rules for anyone about what is or what isn't "indy." Actually, a good chunk of the stuff relased under Image of late is quite indy- long gone are the days of Spawn/Youngblood/Cyberforce and the like. Lullaby came out as an Image book and I loved that. I also like Strangers in Paradise, which might surprise many.
All I'm saying is that, since the big boys are failing to deliver, let's support the littler guys who are doing work that's a heck of a lot more creative than the superhero gimmick-of-the-week schtick.