›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

What's a good comics news/review site?

jabrams007jabrams007
edited November 2011 in Manga/Comics
For untold years now, I've been going to newsarama for my comics related news and reviews. My dissatisfaction with the site has been steadily growing and now, I'm tired of it and want something different. My complaints with Newsarama:

Newsarama is heavily geared towards mainstream superhero books from Marvel and DC. While I realize that these are the Big Two companies, I would like more news from independent and non-superhero books. I rarely see news stories from other publishers like Archaia, IDW, etc. Even relatively large publishers like Dark Horse and Image get very few stories.

The ads and pop-ups/pop-unders have gotten out of control and I hate them.

I don't care about videogame reviews even if the game is related to comic books.

I don't care about movie reviews or TV reviews.

Basically, I would like a news site that covers things that I won't read about on fifteen other websites I go to. The internet should let me discover things I never would have found otherwise: A small press book that's getting great reviews but is being commercially ignored, a real interview with a comic creator that isn't just a glorified press release, some real news about the industry instead of just another top 10 list.

Likewise, I would like a comic site that reviews the comics that I DON'T read but I SHOULD. There are so many comics out there that fly under the radar, I'm looking for a site that doesn't just review the latest X-Men or Batman title, but actually looks for things that I haven't heard of.

I don't think this is too much to ask, is it?

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    There aren't any such sites I have ever found. Just read whatever I read.
  • RochelleRochelle
    I get 99% of my comic/graphic novel/manga recommendations by forum goers here, my friends, or sometimes whatever Amazon recommends based on my purchasing history.

    My friends and I basically buy graphic novels and whenever we hang out we basically just give each other whatever we purchased and go, "Here, read this. You will like it."

    I recently let my friends borrow, A Bride's Story, Okko, and Mouse Guard. They gave me The Amazing Joy Buzzards. I'm pretty sure I'll like it and I know they will like what I gave them.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    While I would love to talk to my friends about comics and exchange books with them, I'm really the only "serious" comics reader among my friends. I have a hard enough time trying to lend my friends books that I think they'll enjoy, trying to get them to actually BUY something is almost an impossibility.
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited November 2011
    I'll go ahead and suggest something a in Scott Rubin-esque sort of way, "Get new friends." =P

    But, I honestly feel you about Marvel and DC. I tend to ignore most of their titles and my local comic shop actually offers and suggests a lot of Archaia, IDW, Image, Icon, Vertigo, and other lesser known publishers in their stores as well as in their newsletter.

    The Comics Worth Reading thread has given me a decent number of suggestions.

    I think our best bet is to just stick with the forum suggestions and possibly Amazon. I've found several of their reviews to be very well detailed when it came to certain graphic novels that looked interesting, but I had no idea about them.
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    Read The Incal. It will cost you a lot of moneys. It will be weird and beautiful. It will be worth it.
  • AprecheApreche
    Here are the comics for my most recent four orders from dcbservice.com. Most are actually good, some I just got because of low price or curiosity.

    AXE COP TP VOL 03 (C: 0-1-2)
    BAKUMAN TP VOL 09 (C: 1-0-1)
    DANGER GIRL REVOLVER #1 (OF 4) *Special Discount*
    IZOMBIE TP VOL 03 SIX FEET UNDER AND RISING (MR)
    MOUSE GUARD BLACK AXE #4 (OF 6)
    NAOKI URASAWA 20TH CENTURY BOYS GN VOL 19 (C: 1-0-1)
    SCARLET SPIDER #1 *Special Discount*
    STRIKEFORCE MORITURI WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE #1 *Special Discount*
    ATOMIC ROBO GHOST OF STATION X #5 (OF 6)
    BOKURANO OURS GN VOL 05 (C: 1-0-0)
    DROPS OF GOD GN VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2)
    LORD OF THE JUNGLE #1 (MR) *Special Discount*
    MUSE HC (MR) (C: 0-1-2)
    OUTCAST #1 MAIN CVRS *Special Discount*
    RED WING TP *Special Discount*
    ROBOCOP ROAD TRIP #1 (MR) *Special Discount*
    SWEET TOOTH TP VOL 04 ENDANGERED SPECIES (MR)
    TEZUKAS PRINCESS KNIGHT GN VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2)
    THE STRAIN #1 (OF 11) HUDDLESTON CVR *Special Discount*
    UNWRITTEN TP VOL 05 ON TO GENESIS (MR)
    VOLTRON #1 *Special Discount*
    ATHOS IN AMERICA HC (C: 0-0-2)
    ATOMIC ROBO GHOST OF STATION X #4 (OF 6)
    BAKUMAN TP VOL 08 (C: 1-0-1)
    BOYS TP VOL 09 BIG RIDE (MR) (C: 0-1-2)
    FABLES TP VOL 16 SUPER TEAM (MR)
    FANTASTIC FOUR #600 *Special Discount*
    FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST TP VOL 27 (OF 27) (C: 1-0-1)
    HOUSE OF MYSTERY TP VOL 07 CONCEPTION (MR)
    NAOKI URASAWA 20TH CENTURY BOYS GN VOL 18 (C: 1-0-1)
    TEZUKAS BLACK JACK TP VOL 17 (RES) (C: 0-1-2)
    UNCANNY X-MEN #1 XREGB *Special Discount*
    ATOMIC ROBO GHOST OF STATION X #3 (OF 6)
    CBLDF LIBERTY ANNUAL 2011 #4 CVR A CASSADAY
    COLD WAR #1 *Special Discount*
    HARK A VAGRANT HC (MR)
    ISLE OF 100000 GRAVES GN (FEB111041)
    ORCHID #1 CARNEVALE CVR *Special Discount*
    SHIELD TP ARCHITECTS OF FOREVER
    SPACEMAN #1 (OF 9) (MR) *Special Discount*
    TEZUKAS PRINCESS KNIGHT GN VOL 01 (C: 0-1-2) *Special Discount*
    UNCANNY X-MEN #544
    X-MEN #1 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
    YOTSUBA & ! GN VOL 10 (C: 0-1-2)
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    Read The Incal. It will cost you a lot of moneys. It will be weird and beautiful. It will be worth it.
    Already own it, haven't read it yet though.

    And while the Comics Worth Reading thread is full of great suggestions, it doesn't get updated enough for my liking.

  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    Read The Incal. It will cost you a lot of moneys. It will be weird and beautiful. It will be worth it.
    Already own it, haven't read it yet though.

    And while the Comics Worth Reading thread is full of great suggestions, it doesn't get updated enough for my liking.

    I can agree with that.

    Scott, would you be opposed to posting your lists from IST and DCBS whenever you order a box? I'd be happy to as well (and it'd be nice to see others do it, too), but I'm on a bit of a comics hiatus for obvious reasons. I'll post my first box in June.

  • AprecheApreche
    Read The Incal. It will cost you a lot of moneys. It will be weird and beautiful. It will be worth it.
    Already own it, haven't read it yet though.

    And while the Comics Worth Reading thread is full of great suggestions, it doesn't get updated enough for my liking.

    I can agree with that.

    Scott, would you be opposed to posting your lists from IST and DCBS whenever you order a box? I'd be happy to as well (and it'd be nice to see others do it, too), but I'm on a bit of a comics hiatus for obvious reasons. I'll post my first box in June.

    A little slow on the posting there?

  • MattMatt
    Shameless plug for my comic-book focused employer: MTV Geek
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    That would be helpful, but I'd like to know why Scott (or whomever) was ordering what they were, instead of just what they bought. I know I can read reviews on Amazon, but besides just giving me a huge list of things that were purchased, I'd like an explanation as to what made them buy what they did. I know that requires more work, but some context would be helpful.
  • RochelleRochelle
    @jabarams,

    Does your local comic book shop have a decent newsletter? That's how I found out about Habibi, and just now I found out that Chip vol. 1 is available to purchase!

    I'm so excited because I saw the original comic on a shelf one day and glanced through it. It seemed interesting enough about a baby gargoyle statue that is trying to prove himself to the larger statues, but I didn't pick it up. When I went back months later asking about the comic, it was no longer available and was eventually going to be put into trade. Now it is, and now the buying.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited November 2011
    A little slow on the posting there?
    Not so much; I saw your post, and I liked having the boxes summed up in a form that I don't have to watch (nothing against Scott's Box, which I like a lot, I just don't have time to watch webcasts).

    EDIT: Also, @jabrams: Keep an eye on BoingBoing and on smaller publisher's websites (Fantagraphics, Humanoids, etc). You'd be surprised what shows up; I found out about Habibi through BoingBoing originally.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • AprecheApreche
    That would be helpful, but I'd like to know why Scott (or whomever) was ordering what they were, instead of just what they bought. I know I can read reviews on Amazon, but besides just giving me a huge list of things that were purchased, I'd like an explanation as to what made them buy what they did. I know that requires more work, but some context would be helpful.
    The reasons are usually very uninteresting. For example:

    AXE COP TP VOL 03 - It's AXE COP
    BAKUMAN TP VOL 09 - It's Bakuman. It's by the creators of Death Note, a manga about two guys who make manga. So meta.
    DANGER GIRL REVOLVER #1 - Special discount
    IZOMBIE TP VOL 03 SIX FEET UNDER AND RISING - Mike Allred artwork. About a girl who is a zombie that works as a gravedigger and has a ghost and a were-terrier as friends.
    MOUSE GUARD BLACK AXE - It's Mouse Guard
    NAOKI URASAWA 20TH CENTURY BOYS GN VOL 19 - It's Naoki Urasawa
    SCARLET SPIDER #1 - Special Discount
    STRIKEFORCE MORITURI WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE #1 - It's supposed to be awful, but special discount is insane. Morbid curiosity.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    edited November 2011
    @jabarams,

    Does your local comic book shop have a decent newsletter? That's how I found out about Habibi, and just now I found out that Chip vol. 1 is available to purchase!

    I'm so excited because I saw the original comic on a shelf one day and glanced through it. It seemed interesting enough about a baby gargoyle statue that is trying to prove himself to the larger statues, but I didn't pick it up. When I went back months later asking about the comic, it was no longer available and was eventually going to be put into trade. Now it is, and now the buying.
    Unfortunately, as much as I love my local comic shop, I don't think it puts out a newsletter, or if it does, just the "industry" one put out by previews etc. The shop I go to, while it does sell comics and is great, is primarily a gaming store.

    Post edited by jabrams007 on
  • AprecheApreche
    @jabarams,

    Does your local comic book shop have a decent newsletter? That's how I found out about Habibi, and just now I found out that Chip vol. 1 is available to purchase!

    I'm so excited because I saw the original comic on a shelf one day and glanced through it. It seemed interesting enough about a baby gargoyle statue that is trying to prove himself to the larger statues, but I didn't pick it up. When I went back months later asking about the comic, it was no longer available and was eventually going to be put into trade. Now it is, and now the buying.
    Unfortunately, as much as I love my local comic shop, I don't think it puts out a newsletter, or if it does, just the "industry" one put out by previews etc. The shop I go to, while it does sell comics an is great, is primarily a gaming store.

    Go to your local comic shop early next month. By the Previews catalog. Then switch to dcbservice.com. Order another Previews catalog in your first order. Never order Previews again because it is evil and a waste of paper. You should be able to just make all your future orders using the Excel spreadsheet and the dcbservice web site.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    @jabarams,

    Does your local comic book shop have a decent newsletter? That's how I found out about Habibi, and just now I found out that Chip vol. 1 is available to purchase!

    I'm so excited because I saw the original comic on a shelf one day and glanced through it. It seemed interesting enough about a baby gargoyle statue that is trying to prove himself to the larger statues, but I didn't pick it up. When I went back months later asking about the comic, it was no longer available and was eventually going to be put into trade. Now it is, and now the buying.
    Unfortunately, as much as I love my local comic shop, I don't think it puts out a newsletter, or if it does, just the "industry" one put out by previews etc. The shop I go to, while it does sell comics an is great, is primarily a gaming store.

    Go to your local comic shop early next month. By the Previews catalog. Then switch to dcbservice.com. Order another Previews catalog in your first order. Never order Previews again because it is evil and a waste of paper. You should be able to just make all your future orders using the Excel spreadsheet and the dcbservice web site.
    I would prefer not to shop online because I want to support my local store (something that I know is not one of your priorities). Additionally, the dcbservice doesn't address my desire to read reviews of things that I wouldn't normally read, or expose me to books that I wouldn't normally know about.

    Also, in your prevous post about why you ordered what you ordered, you wrote that you bought 20th Century Boys because it's Naoki Urasawa. While I know who he is, and I even know (vaguely) what 20th Century Boys is, why do YOU like it? What is it about that manga that keeps you buying volume after volume? What is unique about it or even if it isn't unique, what makes it better at some things than other titles? Just saying it's by Naoki Urasawa isn't very helpful... And just to be clear, I don't really expect you to do this. That isn't your job, or even your hobby. But there's got to be someone out there who does... who has a site or a blog or whatever.

    For example, I love Mouseguard. I love it because I find the art beautiful and the characters deep and well realized. I like the Mouseguard world and find it different from your traditional fantasy world. I am interested in the backstory about the Black Axe and about the previous wars with the weasels. I could go on and compare Mouseguard to other works of fantasy I like, other comics I enjoy, and even talk about the roleplaying game and it's connection to Burning Wheel. But I'm not, because while I'm interested in all that, I'm not so interested that I want to make it my hobby, and I don't get paid to do that, so I'm not going to make it my job.

    But again... someone out there must do this either as his or her job or hobby.

  • RochelleRochelle
    I just did a quick Google search of "indy comic review site" and found Comics Worth Reading. They have a whole separate page for for indy comics and the posts seem to update frequently. The site also seems to have a other posts about similar geek things.

    This might be what you're looking for. I think I'll add them to my reader feed.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    I just did a quick Google search of "indy comic review site" and found Comics Worth Reading. They have a whole separate page for for indy comics and the posts seem to update frequently. The site also seems to have a other posts about similar geek things.

    This might be what you're looking for. I think I'll add them to my reader feed.
    Cool! Thanks, I'll check it out.

  • AprecheApreche
    DCBS doesn't give you reviews, but it does help me discover things. The order form is the same thing as the Previews catalog without the pictures. I just go down the entire list and I check out any comic that looks interesting. It's actually better than a comic shop because it has every single comic that is available, and not just the comics that the shop decided to order.

    I think the major difference between you and I is that while I'm an atheist when it comes to gods, I rely on faith when it comes to comics. I don't need a review or a reason to buy something. I'll buy a comic on faith just because a certain creator's name is on the cover. Look at how many #1 issues I order. 99% of those will suck, and I won't buy any more. If they are actually any good I'll buy the trade when it come sout. Instead of relying on reviews to make decisions, I actually try before I buy. Because the prices are so low with dcbservice, I can afford to do this.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    While I think your analogy to having faith when it comes to comics is clever, I DO need a reason to buy something. As a student with a very fixed income, I unfortunately don't have the luxury of just blind-purchasing. I am like you in that I do follow certain creators and will buy almost anything they put out. But, again, while not necessary, I would still like to know what the book is about, even if I'm going to buy it anyway.

    I don't know about you Scott, but besides reading comics, I enjoy reading about the comic book industry. I like reading interviews with creators about what they're working on, or where they're going to take a book, or even some of their influences. I can't get any of that from DCBS. It's not just about getting information to make a purchase, it's about reading interesting things about a hobby I enjoy.
  • AprecheApreche
    Your fixed income is even more reason to use DCBS. You get 30-40% more comics for the same money. Also, a store isn't really the place to get reviews and such. It's a store. There's a conflict of interest when the store also provides the reviews, just look at Gamestop/GameInformer. If you want to read that kind of thing, subscribe to BackIssue, Alter Ego, Comics Journal, etc.
  • jabrams007jabrams007
    Your fixed income is even more reason to use DCBS. You get 30-40% more comics for the same money. Also, a store isn't really the place to get reviews and such. It's a store. There's a conflict of interest when the store also provides the reviews, just look at Gamestop/GameInformer. If you want to read that kind of thing, subscribe to BackIssue, Alter Ego, Comics Journal, etc.

    I won't argue with you about the benefits of DCBS, because I agree with you. But somehow, this thread has gotten off-trail of what I was originally looking for: I'm not looking for cheaper books, I'm looking for a good source of information about the comic book industry including previews, reviews, interviews, and news.
  • AprecheApreche
    edited November 2011
    Your fixed income is even more reason to use DCBS. You get 30-40% more comics for the same money. Also, a store isn't really the place to get reviews and such. It's a store. There's a conflict of interest when the store also provides the reviews, just look at Gamestop/GameInformer. If you want to read that kind of thing, subscribe to BackIssue, Alter Ego, Comics Journal, etc.

    I won't argue with you about the benefits of DCBS, because I agree with you. But somehow, this thread has gotten off-trail of what I was originally looking for: I'm not looking for cheaper books, I'm looking for a good source of information about the comic book industry including previews, reviews, interviews, and news.
    There really isn't one place that covers everything. You have to go to all the places. Most of the stuff out there isn't any good, and the stuff that is good almost always specializes in covering just one aspect. It doesn't help that half the good stuff is in non-free print publications.

    Even comics podcasts all tend to focus on just one area. Even Comic Geek Speak, which I still sometimes listen to, mostly focuses on what the hosts are into at that moment.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • RelicRelic
    I've always enjoyed ifanboy.com. There is a lot of focus on Marvel/DC, but they do cover other publishers quite a bit as well (their current book of the month is from Archaia, and isn't due to be released for a couple weeks). They have a podcast that covers their weekly reads, as well as an occassional video podcast with more random topics (Frank Miller, Comic-Con 2011 Interviews, etc).

    They also have a pull list where you can see which books are the most popular in their community and discuss them.
  • ChurbaChurba
    Major spoilers is pretty decent.
  • MattMatt
    They have a decent podcast too. I used to listen to it back in the day, but eventually unsubscribed because it's good but not great, and I'm not hugely into comics. I was just looking to stay current.
  • ChurbaChurba
    They have a decent podcast too. I used to listen to it back in the day, but eventually unsubscribed because it's good but not great, and I'm not hugely into comics. I was just looking to stay current.
    I subscribe to the podcast, it has definitely gotten better since I started listening, and it's always worth it when they have the Atomic robo guys or Steve Coogan on. I think the latest one with Steve Coogan was a really interesting one about strange semi-meta theory of Watchmen.

    They have a couple of different ones now, too - Along with the Main Major Spoilers podcast, there's also Critical Hit(their D&D game), Want list, Top five, and Major Spoilers Weekend edition, which is discussion, but without the usual format or topics, more of an all-in whatever-comes-to-mind thing.

  • colbybloggercolbyblogger
    I like Comics Alliance.
  • Dazzle369Dazzle369
    Just finished Habibi. Beautiful calligraphy, story had me very emotional.
Sign In or Register to comment.