Back to Life, Back to Reality
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For my kids, this week is Back to School week. They've been feeling it for a while. Bedtimes have gotten earlier. Routines more rigorous. And finally, they'll have something filling several hours of their weekdays. It's been a perfect time to examine and tighten up my own routines as well. I've been waking up earlier, taking advantage of the quiet time to get more videos done. I've always been more early bird than night owl, but I forgot how much I used to get done between 5:30 and 8:00am. Maybe I do have time to get back in the gym. Speaking of tightening up... Last week, I FINALLY completed the big purge. I'd been blowing my $50 weekly budget out of the water for a few months. But when I looked out and saw that I was nearly DOUBLING my budget for August, I had to take drastic measures. Of course, I've been met with a deluge of calls to reconsider dropping Absolute Wonder Woman. Thankfully, we have DC Universe Infinite for that. Newspaper Comics Are Dope Do you remember reading comic strips in the newspaper? For me, those were the only comics readily available in childhood. When I saw a Facebook ad for a free issue of The Ducktown Weekly -- an ALL COMICS newspaper, I couldn't resist it. Click the image to check out my review, then join my petition to get George Gant's Beware of Toddler strip added to the paper! Coming Up on the Channel In the spirit of Back to School, I'm working on a showcase of Graphic Novels to help your kids cope with the heavy dose of seriousness headed their way. From Ducktales to Animorphs, there's no shortage of kids comics out there. You just have to know where to look. Also coming this week are my deep dive ranking of all the major Digital Comics subscription services, and a longform Q&A video I've been teasing for a month. I'm also gearing up for a new season of guests on the Podcast. The summer break wasn't really intended, but I'm so happy to have more interviews on the calendar. Relax, Scoob. It's Just a Rebrand! One more quick announcement. Channel sponsor Organic Priced Books has just completed a rebrand, and is now known as Panel Bound Comics! The new name helps them avoid being mistaken for a farm-to-table recipe source, and plants them firmly in the world of collected editions as a major player in the years to come. Rebrands are scary, but often necessary. I'm really proud of JP, David and Jake for pulling it off! Read Something Dope Today, BJ KICKS |
Comics Are Dope
Celebrating everything Dope about comics. Curated by BJ KICKS.
I remember the first time I heard "Livin' on a Prayer." I was couch surfing the summer before my senior year of college with two close friends -- one of whom was a theater major (is it theater or theatre? anyways...) Before the fall semester started, my friend decided to invite all her theater homies over for a kickback to start the school year. That was my first 'white' party. As a black kid in the suburbs, you don't really see white people in their natural habitat. You get to play outside,...
This week, we crossed the 20,000 subscriber mark on the Comics Are Dope YouTube channel. As I said on Threads, I don't think I've met 20 thousand people over my lifetime. The idea of that many people clicking the subscribe button after seeing me talk about fictional heroes in capes and tights is crazy to me. While I think every YouTuber (including me) dreams at least a tiny bit about having one of those 100,000 subscriber plaques; every subscriber on this journey feels like a gift I couldn't...
One of my heroes is the late Congressman John Lewis. As one of the co-founders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, he was on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement at an age when most kids are trying to decide which super easy elective they're going to take to boost their Freshman GPA. He often talked about the days of sit-ins and marches, recalling all his arrests during those demonstrations as getting into "Good trouble. Necessary trouble." Car trouble is neither of...