New York Comic Con is a week away, and let's just say I don't feel prepared at all. I'm just wrapping my mind about the scope of it all, and doing my best to not give into feelings of overwhelm. On Friday, I'll be attending several private events, a few panels, and conducting at least 2 interviews on the convention floor. I'm doing my best to reserve Saturday to just explore Artist Alley and meetup with past guests like Morgan Hampton, Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Trevor Fernandes-Lienkiewicz. It'll be awesome to meet these guys in person (again in the case of TFL). There are several other creators I'm excited to meet, but you'll have to wait for the video recap to see them. If you're coming to NYCC and would like to meet up, send a reply to this e-mail so I can make a note. Once I get a lay of the land, I'll tweet about a potential meetup spot/photo op for the Dope Fiends on Saturday. On The Channel A family emergency shut down my video production this week. Needless to say, I'm behind on a lot. Be on the lookout for back-to-back uploads all next week. In addition to The Pull List, I'll be covering some upcoming Marvel trade paperback releases, and a really special announcement you'll want to watch out for on Tuesday. Thursday morning, I'll break down just how I plan to have a successful NYCC. Then when I get back, we can see how well it all worked out. On The Podcast This week, comic artist Anna Marazova is in the guest chair! We talk about how she gave up on a lucrative tech career to chase her comic dreams, being discovered and making a name at 2000 AD, and now working on Barbarella for Dynamite Entertainment. We also have an interesting discussion about the buying habits of European vs American comics fans. It's a delightful listen that I hope you'll enjoy too! I can't believe we'll be hitting 50 episodes in just 2 weeks! It's gonna be a double sized anniversary issue. Get hype!
An Absolutely Useless Review Have you ever read a comic so amazing, you get mad you can't spoil it? How long is the moratorium on Absolute Batman #1? Because we HAVE TO talk about it. Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta absolutely KILLED IT! Without spoiling, I'll say this. Batman is an extremely malleable character. No matter what writers take him through, you always have a general feeling of 'that makes sense'. But it's rare that you get moments with Batman that feel fresh. This new take on Bruce feels FRESH in the best ways. Dragotta's art with Frank Martin's colors make it even better. There's nothing I can say without spoiling that would do this comic justice. So RUN to your comic shop and buy it, so we can have a fun discussion on Discord! Until then... Read Something Dope Today, BJ KICKS |
Celebrating everything Dope about comics. Curated by BJ KICKS.
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...
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: Buy a bunch of comics. Scan all the Marvel comics for their Free Digital Codes. Read Marvel on my iPad Read DC Comics via the DC Infinite Ultra subscription... also on my iPad. Gather my single issues once a month and file away in short...
Man.. February is over already! While there's not much to mourn since it's Black History Month all year long around here, that means it's been nearly 3 months since the last interview on Comics Are Dope (The Podcast). I know I should give myself grace, as I had a pretty good reason for breaking the weekly streak. But on the internet, momentum is everything. Suddenly, posting Episode 58 feels a lot like posting Episode One -- and I'm Jar Jar Binks. I do have a few interviews I never got around...