That's Gotta Hurt The Library Defense

So, the man behind HTMLComics.com is now being sued into forfeiting the domain names he used for his many acts of copyright infringement. I imagine this is just one of the many steps along the way when it comes to dealing with Gregory Hart.

But I find something funny and puzzling:

He told (copyright holders) he designed the website, and although he did not personally own the comics being displayed, he received digital image files from people who scanned the comics and posted them on his website, the lawsuit says.

I remember him saying it in previous statements across the 'net, but to state this directly to the publishers is to put it on record for any legal proceedings, basically. A library owns at least one legal copy of everything in their library. Any donation to a library involves giving up the legitimate copy of a work. If publishers had legally available electronic copies and those donating individuals gave the files to the site and then wiped them from their own computers, maybe the library argument would make a bit more sense, whether it worked or not.

(hat tip to Kevin Melrose over on Robot6 for the news link used)

Don't Let Your Cats Out On The Streets

I'm practically all talked out on how bad the Justice League of America books are lately. I am pretty much just as sapped when it comes to the Rise & Fall stuff.

But then this issue of JLA: The Rise & Fall of Arsenal comes out and, well, it's so bad that it is impossible to have nothing to say.

I still don't have the energy to really go and say a whole lot about how bad this is. Nothing can really top the blow-by-blow shredding of the book by retailer Brian Hibbs (that's right: a retailer shitting on the book on the date of release). But I'll share this image to give you a sense of how bad the book is.

And I'll, also, say this: for a book that doesn't have any reason to be especially timely, it sure had a lot of people scrambling to work on it. There are noticeable shifts in the art. Without this issue's deadline having major effects on other books coming out, my first guess would be changes. What I'm saying is, for one reason or another, it seems there was editorial feedback that guided and changed the final product...yet this steaming turd is still what hit the stands.

I think I saw one JT Krul book in the last few months that seemed passable, making me want to hold off on grouping his work with that of James Robinson's recent JLA stuff. All that did was delay the inevitable, because this Arsenal stuff makes Cry For Justice look like it deserves its award nomination.

DC Comics 75th: Best Covers: Justice League Annual #1

Background be damned, I love this cover. I'll admit that Martian Manhunter being the focal point is a huge part of its appeal to me. How it fits the story and sells the desperation felt in the story are what I'd suggest as its real merits in the discussion of best DC Comics covers, though.

DC Comics 75th: Best Covers: Superman Annual #11

Maybe I'm letting my fondness for the story between the covers color my opinion of the cover, but as a kid who almost never bought Superman comics, this cover really caught my eye and made it a must buy for me.

Ryan Choi Lives!

Gotta love folks taking lemons and making a parody-filled lemonade out of it.

The Ian Boothby Rules Everything thread on CBR (in Gail Simone's YABS forum) is filled with many good examples.

(image taken from Tim Seeley's twitpic contribution to the meme)

You Know, I Half Expected Them To ARMAGEDDON 2001 It

Mr. Anonymous had it right way back when I reported his spoilers about who the Red Hulk was. After they dragged it out and even had a scene or two meant to throw you off from thinking it was him, they actually stuck to it. That, in itself, is a bit shocking.

Thiefs & Dynamite & Journalism

Before I start: I consider Troy Brownfield to be a personal friend. He conducted the interview of Pat Lee that appeared on Newsarama and has drawn a bunch of criticism.

Let's go over the points of criticism.

Why was Pat Lee was only asked one softball question about his past problems of using other artists' work passed off as his own and leaving so many people unpaid (covered by simply asking him about past controversy)?

Any more direct question wouldn't have been answered and may have resulted in the interview not taking place at all. While some suggest that not running an interview with Pat Lee was the better option, I question that. Why not run it? To avoid publicizing it? You mean like a few other sites (Broken Frontier, CBR, ICV2, The Beat) did by running full press releases with little-to-no editorializing?

So, instead of just copying and pasting PR straight from the publisher, an interview was conducted. A question that tried to introduce the topic was offered, giving us the chance that Pat Lee might answer it, rather than shrug it off.

Oh and a second "softball" was kinda put to him: "Nrama: At this stage of your career, does Pat Lee have something to prove?"

Seems to me like this was an attempt to bring up the fact that so much of "his" work hasn't actually been done by him. A subtle "do you need to prove that you DON'T need Alex Milne" if you will.

So Pat Lee gets 1-2 "softball" questions about his past fuck ups. That's 1-2 more questions on the subject than he's received and answered from other sites, so far. That's getting him on the record as trying to avoid his past instead of answer for it and redeem himself, which says just about as much as any bullshit he would have popped out with if he HAD been pressed and, through some miracle, actually answered the questions rather than killing the interview.

Yet, somehow, about 1/3 of the bitching post-interview from fans and the blogosphere is about Troy & Newsarama even conducting the interview, rather than Pat Lee being a responsibility-dodging douche and someone Dynamite Entertainment shouldn't have given another chance to.

The Dodsons' Uncanny X-Men 526 Cover, In Stages

Pencils

Inks

Colors (in progress)

Terry & Rachel Dodson are still one of my favorite art teams in the business. I always appreciate when they share their work in the different stages of the process so can see the metamorphosis from pencils to finished cover. 

RIP Frank Frazetta