Comic Collector Live

Over the years I’ve tried a variety of methods to keep up and catalogue my comics, ranging from very advanced to pen and paper. In the end, pen and paper ends up being the most effective for me. I have even tried to build my own XML sheets that will somehow do what I want, but I can never get it sorted out in my head exactly how to pull off what I want. The biggest obstacle, for me, is that I like to have lists of issues I am missing, more so than lists of what I do have. It may not sound like it makes sense, but try looking through hundreds of long boxes at a con during an early morning sale, and you’ll see how much easier it is to have a list of what you need versus what you don’t need. Anyhow, while I still rely on pen and paper, I have been trying out a program that I like; well, I like it more than any of the other programs I’ve tried over the years. It’s Comic Collector Live, a little java-based application. Here is my assessment of it so far:

Gas Hike Comes to Gotham; Citizens Adjust

After the aardvark

Because the guys at my local comic shop (Kingdom Comics) are the coolest in the world, I recently acquired an advance copy of Dave Sim’s latest title, Glamourpuss. And because they are super-cool, I also got an advance copy of his upcoming graphic novel/one-shot, Judenhass. To top it all off, I recently scored some Cerebus issues I am missing on Ebay, bringing me to lacking only about 20 issues of the entire 300-issue epic.

The Pull List 3/12/08

Ok, so I missed posting about last week’s comics, so I’m making up for it here. The official excuse is that I got two teeth pulled, but honestly, I was just too busy. Nevertheless, last week had several great comics hitting the shelves. As for this week, the complete list can be found here. I’ve been saying for years that Diamond should release an RSS feed of their shipping lists, it would make everything so easier. Anyway …

The Pull List – 03/05/2008

Echo #1

Following his long running series Strangers In Paradise, Terry Moore’s next book came out this week. It is nothing like SIP, so far; whether or not that is a good or bad thing is up to you. I liked SIP, but I wasn’t crazy about it; that being said, Terry Moore definitely knows how to write a good story and put in it fully developed characters. Echo does not seem like it will be an exception, although it is always hard to tell anything about a comic based on 1 issue, especially the first one. Overall, it’s a good read – even if went by too quickly; however, it doesn’t strike me as the kind of book to attract die-hard faithfuls the way SIP did. It reminds me very much of the Luna Brothers’ work, but not quite as gripping. Perhaps, though, that may be attributed to Moore working on a book long term, versus 10-20 issues. Still, its a decent read, and I’ll give Moore a few more issues until I make a final verdict. Pick it up.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8
(issue #12)

I finally picked up the back issues of this, and I am really glad I did. If you are not a fan of the show, it probably won’t seem as good as it is; however, if you liked the TV show and followed it, you will really dig this comic. It retains the same quip-driven humor, the great character interaction, and the realistic sympathy and awe old friends like Buffy and a one-eyed Xander could (often surprisingly) evoke in a show about … well, a vampire slayer. But that is exactly why the show worked so well; its best episodes were just as much, if not more, about a girl and her friends dealing with life, rather than vampires and a hellmouth and so forth. The best episodes always had the “monster hunter” aspect as a backdrop, not as an essential narrative element. The comic does the same, and long-time Buffy fans will enjoy the faithful addition to the slayer’s story. As the title suggests, it picks up shortly after the show’s finale; and with creator Whedon himself as head-of-show, you can rest assured it isn’t out to destroy your fond memories of the scoobies. Also good to know is that while it was originally slated to be a small mini-series, I’ve read they have around 50 issues they want to do now! Woohoo!

There were a few other notable items that came out this week: a new issue of Powers and  more New Frontiers stories; I really enjoy Darwyn Cooke’s work with DC characters, they look so right.  And his Wonder Woman is the best.  Anyway, that’s all, skip the rest.

The Dangers of Television

The Pull List – 02/27/08

This week has more to offer than last week, which was pretty slim. For some reason I thought the new Ex Machina was due to ship tomorrow, but it’s not on the list, so I’ll wait to talk about it until later. There is a new issue (#3) of Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 arriving, which is a promising read.  Yes, yes, I know it was the indy book of last year, and yes, I agree its hype was vastly overdone; but it is still a pretty good read.  I really like how non-cute Peterson does that book: instead of happy and cartoonish mice, the title gives us violent, brooding, and even peg-legged mice.  It’s worth picking up. 

The Pull List: 1/30/08

There is a lot of crap that hit the stands today.  Unfortunately, many comic readers will pick up most of it, and, as usual, miss the stuff that was really good.  There wasn’t much worth getting in today’s batch of comics, but there was one that is an absolute can’t miss.  Y The Last Man #60. 

Despite being late, the final issue of one of the very best comics in many years delivers all one could hope for.  I will admit, I was just as sad as I was excited to finally read the issue; over the years only a handful of comics have made me anticipate the next issue in the same way Y The Last Man did, such as The Preacher, or The Sandman, to name a few (and there isn’t many more on that list).  I remember reading an interview a few years ago in which Brian K. Vaughn (writer) said he already knew what the last panel on the last page of this issue would be, and now having seen it, I have to say that his execution from issue #1 to now has been masterful.