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Five For Friday #1: Snapshot
posted October 29, 2004
Name Five Ongoing Series That Provide a Snapshot of "Comics Right Now"
Eightball, Dan Clowes
Finder, Carla McNeil
Paper Rodeo, Various.
Shonen Jump, Various.
The Ultimates, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
Other Lists and Responses
Chris Butcher
1.
Drawn & Quarterly Showcase (D&Q)
2.
Voltron (Devil's Due)
3.
Superman/Batman (DC)
4.
In the Shadow of No Towers (Pantheon)
5.
Rurouni Kenshin (Viz)
(I chose
Kenshin because I think it out-jumps
JUMP, in that it was so popular and decompressed and fast, that it now comes out as frequently as the magazine and sells more too.)
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Sean Collins
I like the replacement of
Ultimates with
Supes/Bats (sorry, John Byrne). I actually think that you might want to include both of them if you were to want to name the "typical" very popular supercomic. Those are the two prevailing instincts for getting your book in the top ten now, I think: widescreen, cinematic, revamp-ish black-ops-themed stories on the one hand (
Ultimates) and everything-and-the-kitchen-sink rock'em-sock'em nostalgic geek-gasms with fanboy-favorite artists on the other (Superman/Batman).
I'm surprised by the inclusion of
Voltron, because I thought a lot of that 80s retro toy comic stuff had passed its peak sales-wise, but as a retailer you probably know more about the truth of this than I do. Hell, I
never would have guessed that
Conan would do as well as it did.
I would have included EITHER
D&Q Showcase OR
Worn Tuff Elbow, not both, since I think they both represent the post-
RAW generation, and I think you need a
RAW-era cartoonist in there instead. Or at least the type of cartoonist who gets favorable write-ups in the
NYT. Maybe
Persepolis (Pantheon)? That represents both the "comics are respectable in polite circles now" factor and the "big publishing companies now publish comics" factor. Or you could do
In the Shadow of No Towers, which would cover the "
RAW" factor as a bonus.
Editor's Note: Chris Butcher has since amended his list.
*****
Marc-Oliver Frisch
Urm...
(1)
Detective Conan
(2)
Asterix
(3)
Superman/ Batman
(4)
Uncle Scrooge
(5)
The Walking Dead
*****
Tim O'Neil
1.
Bondage Fairies Extreme
2.
Bondage Fairies Extreme
3.
Bondage Fairies Extreme
4.
Bazongas
5.
Bondage Fairies Extreme
*****
