Reviewing my favorite sites tends to be quick and easy, so let’s go with that. Tonight I take a look at the comic blog that first drew my attention. You’ve seen it in the RSS feed, now learn why.
Last year when I was stuck in my house getting over one of two hospital stays I had a lot more time to run around the internet. I’m not sure how I came across Comic Coverage, but I found it quite enjoyable, and stuck with it. Every blog I came across was either one he linked to or linked to the one he linked to. So I blame him for the long afternoons and weekends I waste reading comic blogs, and for coming up with this one. I, however, can not blame him for my lack of a life. I blame the Crohn’s for that. 🙂
Mark’s blog is relaxed. It’s not really snarky (although I do enjoy those like I enjoy Mystery Science Theater 3000), nor is it fall down hilarious, but it is fun. His main focus is on comic covers. His “Simply the Best“, and alternately “Worst Covers EVER“, articles aren’t just showing the covers and commenting on them. As a professional graphic artist, he goes through a thorough deconstruction of the cover, noting every detail. It’s rather surprising how the little things can make for a great or terrible cover, and it’s the cover that will draw a potenital reader to a comic, so it is that important. “Cover To Cover” takes a look at trends between covers, or homages to famous covers done by other comics.
But it’s not all covers. One of Mark’s favorite super heroes is Superman, and he has a number of articles dedicated to the Man of Steel. “The Kryptonite Chronicles” covered the technicolor world of the worst mementoes in history, those little pieces of home that can kill Superman. His current series is “The Superpowers That Time Forgot“. As if Kal-El wasn’t “godlike” enough, writers would try to drop extra abilities on him, either to try them out or because they needed it for the story. (Note to writers: that last one? Yeah, bad idea, especially if it results in out-of-character characters. Fans notice this stuff.) Some of them are rather humerous. Others are just sad.
One series I wish he’d do more of is “What If..“. No, this wasn’t a series of articles about Marvel’s famous series, but his own situations, usually with a comic bend. (The one with the spider biting someone other than Peter Parker is my favorite, but there’s only three to choose from as I write this.) Luckily, he does put his art skills and humor to other articles, like “Profiles In Villainy” and “Comics Behind the Comics“.
There’s a lot more, but those are my favorites. Since one of the functions of this blog is to point towards stuff I like in the realm of entertainment, I fully promote this blog, as it’s one I read quite often. He’s not paying me. Really, he isn’t. He also didn’t pay me to shill his Cafepress store, Secret Identity, either. I do, however, accept checks or cash if he reads this. 🙂
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