Archives for 2012

Comics I bought for the same price as buying the Before Watchmen comics

Comix
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the comics I bought instead of Before Watchmen

So because the American Book Center had too many comics for sale I bought too many and spent a little bit too much money on Thursday, which made me feel somewhat greedy until Tom Spurgeon was kind enough to cheer me up by explaining how much it would cost to buy all the Before Watchmen comics (also, what to buy instead of them):

This year’s publication of Before Watchmen has facilitated a significant amount of discussion, both public and private, about the state of creator’s rights and the general direction of the industry. One under-discussed aspect of the project is its price. My own thinking on the topic was triggered this morning by the addition of two comics featuring the character Moloch to the initiative, and the resulting quick math that buying the entire series from a comics retailer might cost the average comics consumer a shade under $145.

I wondered what that meant in comics terms.

What follows is a list of 13 things comics and comics-related you can buy for roughly that same amount of money.

I spent roughly the same amount of money, but in euros and got this:

  • The first edition Pantheon hardcover version of Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth
  • Seven paperback collections of Jack of Fables: #1-6 and 9. (7 and 8 not being in stock) by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges and a whole host of other folk
  • Two paperback collections of Fables: #3 and 4 (Bill Willingham and co)
  • Madame Xanadu #2 (Matt Wagner and Michael wm Kaluta)
  • Rick Veitch’s The One
  • The big hardcover edition of Marshall Rogers Batman stories

And I still had money left over to buy beer. Fifteen years ago I could’ve totally seen myself buying into Before Watchmen; I bought a lot of crap back then. Knowning I don’t have to pay the full price to buy shit comics right now just to keep up, that the good stuff will be collected for my convenience later is very liberating.

Be disappointed in Heinlein all over again

geekdom, Racism, science fiction, wingnuts
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If there really was one taboo subject in the old Usenet days of discussing science fiction, it was doubting the genius of Robert Heinlein. there were always acolytes and fanboys aplenty to explain away the homophobia, misogyny or racism that cropped up again and again in his work, or excuse the flawed logic or inconsistencies that could be found in them. Times have changed though and as new generations of sf readers have grown up, Heinlein has lost much of his former prominence in science fiction. Which means there has been room to start seeing the real Heinlein, not the idealised picture his fans have build up around him.

Ironically, it’s the self same fans who are helping to tear this picture down, as they are the only ones dedicated enough to publish things like a never send letter to F. M. Busby about freedom and race relations (PDF, starts at page 68). It’s full of gems like this:

Nor do I feel responsible for the generally low state of the Negro—as one Negro friend pointed out to me; the lucky Negroes were the ones who were enslaved. Having traveled quite a bit in Africa, I know what she means. One thing is clear: Whether one speaks of technology or social institutions,
“civilization” was invented by us, not by the Negroes. As races, as cultures, we are five thousand years, about, ahead of them. Except for the culture, both institutions and technology, that they got from us, they would still be in the stone age, along with its slavery, cannibalism, tyranny, and utter lack of the concept we call “justice.”

Which is straight out of any angry white nerd’s rant against political correctness ever written. So when was it written? 1964.

Smooth

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Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout

Emelisse is a brewery from my home province of Zeeland, which has been doing good things, one of which is their White Label Imperial Russian Stout range, where they age it in various types of whisky casks. The one I’m having right now was aged in casks of Caol Ila, which I never had, but which makes this taste quite good indeed. It got the smell and flavour of a proper whisky, but without the burn. A bit peaty, a bit woody with a nice stout aftertaste.