Review Superman Unchained #1

I'm a big Superman fan. Not apologizing for it, either. The first comic I ever picked up at the grocery store was a Superman book, and he has been a favorite ever since.

As much as I enjoy watching Supes leap tall buildings in a single bound, my favorite stories are always the ones where he has to use his brain or face a moral crisis and his powers are just tools to reach the solution. His quest to do the right thing often leads him to debate what the right thing really is for a given situation -- a trait that makes him one of the most human characters in the DC universe.

The big news in comics this week is the launch of Superman Unchained #1. Written by Scott Snyder with art by the incomparable Jim Lee, this book deserves all of the attention it's received. Snyder's story is a Batman-worthy mystery, and he does a terrific job with Clark Kent. Lee's art was crafted as if he had all year to work on the book and nothing else going on -- the detail will blow your mind. If you haven't read Superman lately, dive into this title head first. There isn't a better marriage of words and art on the shelves right now.

I reviewed the book for the folks at Broken Frontier, and you can read the review HERE. And I have a fangirl confession: the review went live on the BF site yesterday, and I tweeted about it (follow me @leaveittokaren). I tagged Snyder, Lee, BF, and DC Comics. Jim Lee read the review and replied, "Very kind."

That made my day!

Review East of West #3

Recently, I was asked if I read the entire series for all of the books I review. I don't, but I do like to have some background on the title before I work on a review. I try to review titles that are on my personal pull list as often as I can -- familiarity makes for a smooth writing process. When I review a title not on my pull list that is near the beginning of its run, I ask my local comics shop put the previous issues in my box. I'll read those before I attempt the issue I'm reviewing.

Such was the case for my review of Image Comics' East of West #3. Once I read that first issue, I was hooked. It's an interesting take on the Four (Three) Horsemen of the Apocolypse with well-developed characters full of wit and carnage.

My review is on the Broken Frontier site HERE.

Review Ten Grand #2

The first of two comics reviews I wrote this week for the guys at Broken Frontier appeared yesterday.

Writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Ben Templesmith have a hard-boiled hit on their hands with Ten Grand, the first release from the Joe's Comics imprint (published by Image Comics).

My review of issue #2 is HERE. Please leave a comment! Thanks!

Review The Private Eye #2

Hello!
The cancellation of Comics Buyer's Guide magazine back in January marked the end of an era for the magazine, its readers, and its contributors. If you haven't read John Jackson Miller's brilliant piece on the topic, go HERE. It was a privilege to write for CBG and talk comics with the remarkable cast of characters who made that magazine happen.

Recently, Broken Frontier was reorganized and relaunched as a site with a focus on small press and independently published titles -- which means that their content is right in line with the material I enjoyed writing about for CBG. So I'm writing about comics for Broken Frontier again! My first review is for Brian K. Vaughan's The Private Eye #2, and you can read it HERE -- please leave a comment. Thanks!

If you have material you'd like to see Broken Frontier review, or would like to recommend a comics creator for an interview, you can let them know HERE.

I've also decided to keep posting to this blog, so you can expect an interesting mix of topics that I enjoy. For more day-to-day info, follow me on Twitter @leaveittokaren

Review of Fatale #4

I'm happy to announce that I recently started writing for the folks at Broken Frontier. (Budget cuts at Comics Buyer's Guide caused the cancellation of my column, The O'Brien Factor, but I'm still writing comics reviews for my longtime friends at CBG and reading each issue cover-to-cover like always.) It's been a smooth transition to writing for a web-based publication, and the biggest adjustment is getting used to how fast my words go live. No time spent at the printer means a very small lag time between submitting a piece and its appearance.

My first review is for Fatale #4, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' supernatural noir masterpiece and it is HERE. I'm a card-carrying noir junkie, so this series appealed immediately and it didn't disappoint! If you like a bloody good mystery that makes you shake your head and question all of the "whodoneits" in your head, this is the series for you.

If you do give it a read, please leave a comment at the bottom of the Broken Frontier page. Or leave one here. I'd like to know what you think.

Surviving the Creative Life

I know a lot of creative people -- musicians, writers, artists, and even a few actors. Most of them are semi-pros, indulging their creative sides because they have "day jobs" responsible for making ends meet. But a few have made the leap to full-time creative pursuits as a sole source of income. It takes a special kind of fortitude to do that, and it requires considerable sacrifice.

While most are overjoyed to discuss the upsides of making a living in the arts, few are ever asked to elaborate on the downsides. Last week Twitter came alight when Heidi MacDonald at The Beat directed our attention to a brilliant blog post by Faith Erin Hicks. Hicks, a full-time freelance cartoonist, got brutally honest about financially surviving the creative life. The post is on her blog, Friends With Boys, where she posts her webcomic of the same name. It's quite an interesting perspective, and I recommend you also read the comments at the end as Hicks answers questions and offers additional insights.

The Allan Handelman Show

My apologies for not updating this blog. I keep running across interesting bits of info in my work and travels that I should share, and I'll do that here more often.

It was a pleasure once again to be a guest on the Allan Handelman Show. The live show was on December 23, and Allan honestly didn't know if the WZTK-FM listeners would be off to grandma's house or tuning in to Christmas-music-only stations given the very close proximity to the holiday. He needn't have worried, his audience is amazing. As with so many of our other interviews, we had a lot of callers that didn't get to talk about their toys on-air. If you're one of those folks, my apologies. If you leave a comment below, I'll do my best to get information on your old toys.

And if you have toy train questions, the Train Collector's Association website is http://traincollectors.org/. Just click on that link and you'll probably be able to find someone in your area who can offer advice.

Happy New Year, everyone!