Comics Are Dope (and Overwhelming)
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To be a collector is to ignore a thousand red flags at one point or another. To be a comic collector is to ignore a billion. Right now, I've got about 150 single issues sitting near my desk, and I'm about to add 12 more this Wednesday. My typical routine is:
There's probably not a better sign to just make the digital jump than the drudgery of organizing a stack of unread books. Yet, here we are. I can't be the only crazy man living life like this... right? Speaking of, this week is another stacked week of releases. I'm probably most excited to check out Deniz Camp's latest creator owned work, Assorted Crisis Events. I've REALLY been enjoying his work on The Ultimates, and while I've yet to check out 20th Century Men, I'm excited to jump in on the ground floor of a new Camp series. What I'm not crazy excited about is yet another X-Men crossover. Fun fact, the first time I ever fell behind on my reading pile was during 2020's X of Swords crossover. Jonathan Hickman's House of X is what got me into comics, and I was excited to see what the first event of the Krakoa era had in store. But trying to read 3 issues a week for a single story IN ADDITION to everything else on the list (looking at you Dark Knights: Death Metal) just proved to be a task too difficult for this comics fan. Here we are, nearly 5 years later, and it's that time again. The Krakoa experiment has given way to the From The Ashes era. Part of the promotional push for the current slate was the team expressing that you only need to read the titles you're interested in. While there's a shared state of affairs, there's no unifying plot, and each book is doing its own thing. Then issue 2 of Jed McKay's X-Men featured one side of a conversation you had to read Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men to complete. Then, we had a 4 part crossover in those aforementioned titles. And now? Now it's time for X-Manhunt. Charles Xavier is on the loose, making questionable decisions as usual. And he's running through every book in the X-Men line to state his case. Is it good? I'm not sure yet. I haven't made it to my comic shop to pick up the first 3 issues (all released on 3/5/25). Man.. I miss when monthly comics were actually monthly. I could sit back and wait for the trade, but that's not coming until November! And here I go ignoring those flags again. Read Something Dope Today, BJ KICKS |
Comics Are Dope
Celebrating everything Dope about comics. Curated by BJ KICKS.
This weekend was pretty productive for me. Besides typing this newsletter days early, I also organized all the Marvel comics I've been piling up since the move and redeemed the digital codes I'd left sitting. I started to read the X-Manhunt event, but opted to pick up Bitter Root: The Next Movement #1 instead. How good was it? Let's just say I spent an extra $4 for a digital copy, just to show you this spread: Sanford Greene just doesn't play fair. This issue didn't disappoint at all. It...
Yesterday, I learned I was a recipient of the 2025 Comics Criticism Mini Grant. Each year, Tiffany Babb, her family and a small group of donors accept applications for those doing work in comics criticism in print, audio or video. Each awardee (determined by the number of donations) receives $250 to further the work they do in comics. When I saw the Google Form reposted on my feed via Greg Pak, I figured I’d take a shot in the dark. I never thought I’d win, but at least I would expose my work...
Check out my picks for New Comic Book Day 3/19/25! Happy New Comic Book Day! This week is absolutely stacked, and I feel sorry for everyone like me who was already a little overwhelmed. From new entries like DC x Sonic The Hedgehog and Absolute Flash to ongoing events like One World Under Doom, we've got a lot of reading to do this week. But paint me red and call me a sucker, because I'm here for all of it. An Unexpected Return Last week, Marvel released Reggie Hudlin's blockbuster Black...