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‘Because we CAN’ vs. ‘Because we SHOULD’

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Walt

Though this is primarily a comics blog, I’m taking off the comics-guy hat for a few moments of venting.

I went to Kent State University for 2 1/2 years of graduate school in Library and Information Science. While there, I attended classes with and interacted with students and professors involved in a “usability” program which would—to my understanding—study the “usability” of web sites and other user interfaces. Basically, “how does the end user use this” or “how easy is this to use for the end user,” which is a step beyond the folks designing something. When you’re the one designing something, of course it’s going to be intuitive and easy to use—you’re the one thinking about how you want to use it, and your will be done.

Anyway…I have long been frustrated and annoyed with use of Flash and other “technology” to FORCE a user to use one particular “way” or “path” through something—particularly websites. I’m a multi-tasker/multi-tabber…if you have multiple links/bits of information I’m interested in, I want to keep one page open in a tab, and be able to simply go down the line and open numerous links in new tabs—then I can go through and read what I want, and branch new series of tabs off of that…and it is NOT uncommon for me to find myself with 30-50 tabs open after an hour of using Wikipedia to look something up.

Sprint is my extreme example right now, though, of something that goes against anything I can think of for “usability.”

A number of years ago—late 2005 or so—I decided I wanted a backup of all the photos I had taken on my Sprint cameraphone. So I went to the Sprint Picturemail site, and after logging in was able to select an existing folder, and simply download that folder to my computer as a huge .zip file, that contained all of the photos, at full size.

However, those photos—that download/backup—that was all lost over a year ago now when the computer I had them on crashed the weekend I’d planned to do a proper backup of the machine.

Now, I again find myself trying to get those photos, which now span 7 years and number above 5,000…and in the years since that old download, Sprint has changed their site and interface.

They’ve implemented an interface far more reliant on Flash, and tried to make themselves like some other social network site or photo site, promoting features that—for someone like me—are totally useless or redundant or just uninteresting.

Their promo screen also—to ME—is a blatant LIE (though technically true, but that’s all relative to your purpose).

easiermyfoot

They’ve made it HARDER to download ALL your media and albums to your PC.

Just drag and drop them—“them” being INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS. One at a time, you can download these. A multi-step process—select the photo, drag it to the PC, wait for the download dialogue box to pop up, hit ok, wait for the download, then hit ok on a popup telling you how to download multiple files, and then you can go to your next photo to download and repeat the process.

OR—get this—you can hold down the Control key, and select multiple items…UP TO 21, because there is NO option to display more than 21 items at once. But if the Flash interface “hangs” or otherwise delays, your smooth mouse-pointer movement from one photo to the next will be affected, and register as you NOT holding down Control…and you have to start ALL OVER AGAIN selecting photos.

Sure, this interface is fine if you’re visiting someone ELSE’s collection of photos—you want a handful of photos, cool, select ‘em and go. You’re the owner of the photos, and you want a few select photos to upload your best to facebook or twitter of flickr or whatever—great.

But you’re the owner of the photos and you want to download everything to your own machine, to use in software on your own computer and not just the limited set of options on the Sprint site…

Well, there’s NO provision for THAT.

So as a result…I’m dedicating a big chunk of my day to going through, using this crappy, UN-friendly interface, attempting to download over 5,000 photos 21 at a time…and will then still have to go through over 240 such .zip files and unzip these photos, just to have a usable photo archive.

And maybe sometimes soon I’ll get into my feelings about numerous sites all trying to emulate facebook, and/or sites and services trying to make it easy for you to use them as your CENTRAL, core, prime “homepage” or home site by allowing you to import content from other sites/services…and yet making it impossible or extremely difficult to take data from this one to one of those others.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Crash catch-up: Ultimate X-Men

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Walt

ultxmensmallEvery now and then, I’ll really dive into something. Usually, it’s something that loads of other people have been “in” on for quite some time, that I’m just then “discovering.” Other times, it’s simply a random opportunity that comes up.

Recently, I happened across a run of Ultimate X-Men TPBs at a library I was visiting. I read most of them in less than a week, and revisited that library and another local branch for more. It also turned out that I already owned Ultimatum, and then this past Wednesday for $4 I acquired the Requiem volume.

I’ve now doubled back, and I’m determined to re-read the earlier stuff that I’d read a number of years back, but did not re-read before diving into this run.

ultimatexmenmarch2011

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Favorites of Walt: The Comic Shops #7 – Interlude: BGSU’s Jerome Library

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Walt

favoritesofwaltcomicshopslogo

While it’s not a comic shop, I’d be remiss to ignore the impact of BG’s Jerome Library on my comic collecting.

BGSU is one of few schools to have an actual Department of Popular Culture (rather than having a Pop Culture degree as part of another department). They also have a huge Popular Culture Library that I hear is well known in certain circles for some of their key holdings.

For me, the main interest is their comics collection.

And during my time as a student at BGSU, they were still cataloging some of their comics acquisitions. As some part of this process, they had thousands of comics that they were not keeping. These became part of their annual "Record Sale," which was a sale where folks would show up, and be able to purchase excess materials the library was not keeping.

The first time I attended one of these sales…there was a huge line–so many people that there were periodic cutoffs and you’d have to wait til someone checked out and left before another person would be allowed in.

The comics selection was like a small convention…dozens of longboxes of very good condition comics going back to at least the mid-80s. And the best part? 25-cents apiece. The ultimate "bargain-bin" experience.

I bought a small stack that first time. A friend hadn’t known about the sale, so I went back the next day with him, and wound up filling a longbox.

The next year was even more plentiful–my first visit to the sale I filled a shortbox and had an extra bag to carry my purchases. Then I went back for the 2nd/final day of the sale with a couple friends…and wound up filling a longbox. We were there at the end of the sale–I was scrambling to check all the available longboxes before the sale actually ended, and finished jamming comics into my box when it was announced the sale was closing and for everyone to please make their way to the checkout.

Checking out with this longbox proved to be the single most spectacular purchase I have ever made with comics. The checkout lady took one look at my stuffed box…and asked me simply "How does $10 sound?"

I’m pretty sure I responded with a question of my own, along the lines of "Are you serious?!?"

Ultimately, the condition of sale for that comic box packed with comics was $10 + tax, and the promise that I will NOT donate those comics BACk to the library.

That purchase included a complete run of the original Booster Gold series, the 1980s Blue Beetle series, a significant chunk of Simonson‘s Thor run as well as the original Frank Miller Wolverine mini and some early issues of the ongoing series.

The purchase also increased my entire collection at the time by a bit over an entire percentage point.

Not long after the sale, the library set up a table with about a dozen longboxes as a long-term "bargain bin" to gradually funnel out the remaining comics that hadn’t sold at that sale. This time, the comics were being sold for a dime apiece. So…hit the library for books for class, research…and what the hey. Some comics while I was at it.

I picked up most of the Watchmen singles, as well as significant runs of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and more random comics than I can presently recall–usually small "runs" of whatever.

Unfortunately, when I went back expecting a third year of great comics selection, I found a HUGE disappointment. That year…the entirety of their comics for sale fit in 3/4ths of a short box. I think I bought a couple comics for the sake of buying comics, and a paperback or two, and left.

A $10 longbox filled with comics I’d selected myself…that remains my most "epic" purchase, and a personal "legend" of great acquisition.

NEXT WEEK: JC’s Comic Stop.

Filed under: Favorites of Walt, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Comic Shops | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Ruse #1 [Review]

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Filed under: Crossgen, cxPulp.com, MARVEL, Ruse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Booking Through Thursday: Headlines

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Walt

bookingthroughthursdaybuttonHmm … I can’t quite come up with an outright question to ask, but thinking about the theory of fiction and how it can affect and be affected by real world events can act as a buffer between the horrific events on the news and having to actually face that horror. So … what happens when the line between fiction and reality becomes all-too slim? Discuss!

We often use fiction to escape reality, or at least visit something beyond “reality,” so when the huge events of fiction happen in real life…or something from real life pops up in our fiction, it really can be a bit jarring.

dckingdomcomeIn DC Comics’ Kingdom Come—the novelization of the graphic novel, at least—there’s a scene where the main character is going about his life, and comes to realize that everyone around him is focused on a giant tv screen—where news of a nuclear explosion that’s wiped out much of Kansas is coming through.

The morning of September 11, 2001 was eerily like that for me. I got out of an early morning class, to find the entire lobby filled with people, all focused on a  single tv on a cart someone had wheeled out of an office. It was a standing crowd, and people lined the stairs, no one really talking, everyone just taking in the shocking news.

I recall coming across a quote that I believe was attributed to Grant Morrison, then writer of New X-Men:

“How close is the real world coming to the comic world?  We were talking about crazy madmen launching attacks on the world years ago.”

bttexmachinaThen there’s Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan…whose premiere issue brought a huge surprise twist as its cliffhanger, providing a huge “what if..?” and setting itself in an “alternate reality” from our own, splintered off based on what happened that day.

In the last several weeks, I’ve been on an Ultimate X-Men tear, reading from early in the series right up to Ultimatum in barely a week…and then realizing that I actually now own Ultimatum, reading that as part of the experience…the whole thing also filling out my knowledge from the confusion I had last year when I read about half of the Ultimate Spider-Man series.

ultimatumIn Ultimatum, a huge tidal wave suddenly strikes Manhattan, destroying it. The various heroes rally to deal with the disaster—but many of their own are lost when the “Ultimatum Wave” first hits, and many others are lost in the aftermath.

There’s also reference to Europe freezing, as it seems Magneto managed to switch the magnetic poles of the planet, and the destruction caused is world-wide.

In the Magic: The Gathering novels, the early books in the series begun in 1998 with The Brothers’ War…we find all sorts of disaster, localized and global…all of which affect the local or global culture.mtgapocalypse

Additionally, this is seen in the Dragonlance novels, where an entire continent is devastated by a “fiery mountain from the sky” that completely destroys one city, and causes a huge upheaval that changes the terrain (another city famed for its sea and ships finds itself suddenly landlocked without a sea).

Given how I’m rambling a bit here…I would really suspect it possible to write a whole series of posts, each one focusing on and digging into any of these examples individually, and so many more. I’ll probably kick myself later today as more examples come to me.

Ah, yes: The Sum of All Fears. I don’t honestly recall if I’ve read the book, but I certainly saw the movie…and I recall that freaking me out.

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

The $40 perception of value

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Walt

books for comparison

I posted on this subject a few weeks ago, but have noticed it again a couple times recently.

The pricing—all publishers are guilty, but I’ve mostly noticed it with Marvel books—just seems so out of proportion when books are compared to each other.

Where I’d thought it fairly standard that a six-issue “standard size” TPB would be $14.99 or so…I found that the first volume of Ultimate Comics Avengers, collecting the first six issues of that series, carries a PAPERBACK cover price of $19.99.

As shown to the left of this text, the huge, quasi-omnibus sized Civil War: Spider-Man volume carries a $39.99 cover price. Next to it, the SIGNIFICANTLY smaller in physical dimensions/thickness Deadpool & Cable volume…is also $39.99.

Granted, both volumes contain roughly 18 issues of content, from presumably regularly-sized issues of ongoing series (at the time the series were published). But that hardcover collection is made up of pages enlarged—taller and wider than “standard comic size”…and it’s a hardcover collection. And it’s got the same price as the scrawney-by-comparison paperback.

Really makes the paperback seem like not only an inferior product, but a bad value by comparison, phsyically.

I’ve gotta imagine it’s much cheaper to produce a paperback edition than hardcover. Factor in the extra paper involved by the larger physical dimensions, and honestly…I just don’t “get” it.

$40 is a lotta money…and it’s one thing to drop it on a huge, heavy hardcover. But to see it as the price on a thin little paperback…geez.

Of course, even within the line…the volume containing the only-7-issues Civil War main event itself is also $39.99…and much more comparably sized, at least physically.

These also put the $50 Starman Omnibus volume to shame.

And this is why I buy from Amazon or Half-Price Books, or wait for 33% and 40% coupons from Borders (not even getting into the developing fate of Borders).

books for comparison

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Walking Dead and zombie flicks

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Walt

zombieflicks

It’s only been a few years, but I’ve become quite a fan, in my own way, of the zombie horror “genre.”

However…I don’t tend to like just “any” zombie flick out there. I’m particularly a fan of George Romero’s zombie flicks. However, I can appreciate the much faster ones as seen in Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, and the not-quite-zombies-rage-virus creatures of the 28 Days/Weeks Later, and the virus-spawned creatures of the Resident Evil series.

And of course, The Walking Dead, which to me at present surpasses even Romero’s best.

Can’t leave out Shaun of the Dead…the film that was a huge part of my getting “into” zombie films.

What I do not like are the talking zombies, smart zombies, or “I’m still me with memories and personality but I’m [un]dead” zombies. I’ll make exceptions here and there—particularly Kirkman’s original Marvel Zombies mini—but by and large…these aren’t my type.

While I can appreciate its place in all things zombie…even the brain-seeking/eating zombies aren’t my thing.

The Walking Dead season one is out on DVD now. I’ve just re-watched all 6 episodes in 3 nights, plus a bunch of extras—and still have quite a bit of stuff to watch to finish the extras.

As I said the other night when I posted some thoughts on the new release…I don’t care if these featurettes might be available online somewhere or youtube or whatever…they’re all these great things to watch of behind the scenes stuff and interesting…they’re adding at least a couple extra hours of entertainment to the set.

And where AMC really steps up and gains my respect…to best of my knowledge, the extras on the DVD correspond with the extras on the Blu-Ray. None of that crap of holding CONTENT hostage to force a choice in FORMAT.

zombieflicks

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Snake-Eyes: Declassified #6 [Review]

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good!
Title: Untitled

An early Joe mission creates the Snake-Eyes readers were introduced to in the original G.I. Joe # 1…

snakeeyesdeclassified006Story: Brandon Jerwa
Pencils: Emiliano Santalucia
Colors: Jason Jensen
Letters: Brian Crowley
Cover Art: Emiliano Santalucia & Jeremy Roberts
Publisher: Devil’s Due

This issue wraps up the Snake-Eyes Declassified story, detailing in six issues the true "origin" of the man known to us only as Snake-Eyes.

This issue takes us into Snake-Eyes’ earliest days with the G.I. Joe team, and details the mission that largely shaped the character, particularly as he was first seen in the original Marvel series, way back in # 1.

As a reader who’s not terribly familiar with the character, I can say only that I enjoyed this issue, and that it seems to have certain elements I was aware of from flashbacks. Discussing the issue with a friend, it seems that not only this issue, but throughout the series, there have been scenes taken directly from those earliest issues, and given that, lends even more credibility/authenticity to this story.
After trauma in/surrounding his service to his country, Snake-Eyes has been through a lot, and has ultimately wound up on a "daring, highly-trained special mission force" where he can put his experience/training/abilities to good use. The Joes are sent on a rescue mission, but a mechanical failure with a helicopter leads to disaster, and in the midst of the disaster, several key things occur that close the gap between previous issues of this mini and the first issue of the Marvel series.

The art works very well here, conveying exactly what needs to be gotten across to the reader, including something as simple and subtle as the shifting of eyes in a 3-panel sequence at the beginning.
In the end, this story works very well as a story in and of itself–of a man’s trauma and the things he goes through as he deals with loss and hurt–but it also places into a single coherent chronicle the backstory to what is arguably one of (if not the) most popular characters of the G.I. Joe saga.

Though a "#6 of 6" is not necessarily the best jumping-on point, if you’ve followed this series thus far, I highly recommend getting this final issue. And if you’ve passe don the series–do consider checking out the TPB when it (inevitably) comes out.

Highly recommended.

Ratings:

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Snake-Eyes: Declassified (Devil's Due) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Favorites of Walt: The Comic Shops #6 – Ground Zero Comics

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Walt

favoritesofwaltcomicshopslogo

To my knowledge, Ground Zero Comics no longer exists. Still, they had a fairly important role for me for a brief time.

When I first moved to Bowling Green, Ohio to begin my career as a college student…one of the first things I did was to seek out a comic shop. I’m pretty sure I used the Comic Shop Locator service from Diamond (it WAS around back in ’99?); if not, it was a phone book. There was a single comic shop listed in the city, and I eventually found it in a tiny room off an alley just off the main street.

My very first visit there was at the start of DC‘s Day of Judgment event and during the then-still-going Batman: No Man’s Land event. I vaguely recall buying the first issue of Day of Judgment, as well as a No Man’s Land tie-in…though I’m not 100% confident this memory isn’t misplaced, blurring with my 1999 involvement with Capp’s, Comic Heaven, and Sports ‘n More on visits home that semester.

The shop was basically a small one-room deal; hardly bigger than my own bedroom now. I recall they stocked basically only Marvel and DC current issues…I don’t remember any specific back-issue stock to speak of. So really, the only reason to even visit the shop at all would be for those few issues they did stock…and having no other alternative shop.

I missed Astonishing X-Men #3 for the shop either not stocking it or selling out (I eventually acquired it more than a decade later, at Kenmore Komics) and also initially missed Wolverine #145 (where he officially got the adamantium back—though I called home, and convinced my mom to visit Comic Heaven and get the issue for me).

Bowling Green’s downtown was in decent walking distance of my dorm, and with the campus shuttle service having a stop at the edge of campus close to downtown, that made it all the more accessible without having my own car or a friend to drive me.

I don’t recall exactly when it was, but the shop closed temporarily for a couple weeks or so, and then reopened in a new location a half-block closer to campus, which was a much brighter, larger space…taking on a much better guise as a comic shop.

Though Capp’s remained my home/primary shop with my pull box, I’d periodically make it out to GZ for one or two issues every couple weeks or so….a small "fix" of comics between pickups from Capp’s.

Unfortunately, Ground Zero closed up not too long after, sometime in late 2000 or early ’01. That was disappointing, but I don’t recall it being that big a deal.

Like a phoenix, though, in late-Fall 2001, an RA mentioned picking up that Heroes magazine/tribute Marvel published after the 9/11 attack. On further discussion, I decided to check out this sporting goods store that was selling comics. Turned out to be a small section of the sporting goods store turned into a mini comic shop–Ground Zero comics had been reborn.

It was here that I recall seeking out the start of the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee run on Batman, as well as picking up and deciding against buying the first issue of Fables. They also became an occasional source for Heroclix, though there was a game shop across the street. I discovered Crossgen at this incarnation of the shop, and sought out my first back-issues of Crossgen here.

That memory leads me to believe I’m recalling correctly that they were still operating when I moved back to BG for a few months after graduation…though it wasn’t too long after that that they again disappeared.

And for being such a small comic shop that–when I started writing this I figured I’d have very little to say about it–this is quite a bit.

NEXT WEEK: Interlude – BGSU’s Jerome Library

Filed under: Favorites of Walt, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Comic Shops | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

R.E.B.E.L.S. #4 [Review]

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Decent
Story Title: From Beyond

Dox’s team is coming together, and the villain is revealed!

REBELS Cv4 dsWriter: Tony Bedard
Penciller: Claude St. Aubin
Inker: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Swands
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editor: Brian Cunningham
Cover: Ed Benes and Rob Hunter
Publisher: DC Comics

Dox’s team is coming together, and we as readers find out a bit more about what’s set current events into motion, and who it was that took over LEGION.

The story feels like it’s loaded with potential, particularly on the cosmic side of the DCU; drawing from older characters and concepts but placing them well within current events of continuity and whatnot. However, even four issues in, I’m not really feeling like I have much to care about with these characters nor their situations. The "main villain" for this arc is one of my least-favorite in the DCU, and even being revamped a bit visually still doesn’t interest me. I’m not familiar enough with these characters to know how their depiction here works with prior versions of them, but they do seem consistent within this series, at least. We’re only four issues in, so hopefully a lot of this is simply foundation-laying, building toward some solid payoff in the near future.

The visuals maintain a nice consistency from earlier issues (even with a different artist). Visually, I can’t help but feel that this is to "cosmic DC" what the earlier issues of the 2003-launched Outsiders series was to the more traditional DCU. The art may not be for everyone, but as what it is, it certainly works for this book and gives it a style that sets it apart from a lotta other books.

Bedard seems to have a good grasp of the cosmic stuff, and if you’re a fan of his stories or of the old LEGION characters, this book’s probably right up your alley. Otherwise, it doesn’t seem like anything terribly essential as yet.

Ratings:

Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews, DC, DC Universe, R.E.B.E.L.S. | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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