Some Links to Other Things I Wrote

There's a part of me that hates to do this, but if you can't shamelessly self-promote on your own blog, where the hell can you? I've had a few things published on sites other than Comics Matter this month, so I'm just taking a minute now to link to and discuss them briefly. I want to continue to support the sites that allow me to contribute work, and of course I want as many people as possible to read anything I put out. So here they are:

My latest "1987 And All That" piece for The Chemical Box went up yesterday, this time tackling the six issues of Louise Simonson's Power Pack published that year (they came out bimonthly). I've been thoroughly enjoying my work on that series of columns; it's fun to dig into these older, more established/settled titles and see what makes them work. Or, in the case of The 'Nam, which I wrote about in the preceding column, why they ultimately fail. As often as possible, I try to read every issue with a publication date from 1987, so I can get a real sense of what each series was like for the entirety of the year. I don't always discuss every issue with equal weight, but I do at least read them and let them influence, however subtly, whatever I write. Analyzing year-long runs like that is a rewarding and sometimes challenging experience. By the time I've put the final touches on a column, I can feel intellectually drained, but it's worth it because I'm proud of "1987 And All That" as a project, and continue to be enthusiastic about its future.

I also tapped out a short recommendation of Steve Gerber & Kevin Nowlan's Infernal Man-Thing over at SquarePop. I loved that series when it was coming out, even though Marvel didn't publish it in the most intelligent way possible, especially when it came to reprinting the original story to which the new book was a prequel. Gerber's crazy, almost stream-of-consciousness script and Nowlan's lush painted pages came together in beautiful harmony and produced something very much their own. You can read more of what I love about it on SP.

Ok, that's all the plugging of things I have for now. Keep your eyes on both The Chemical Box and SquarePop for more stuff from me, and everything they publish. Talented-ass people run both sites, and there's a lot of good material to be found on either.