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.
It's been a crazy couple of weeks, huh? Amid all the upheaval, perhaps the biggest change in my daily routine is having to post more on BlueSky, where my follower count jumped from 500 to 1500 seemingly overnight. If you're up for adding another time suck to that rectangle you spend way too much time looking at, it seems BlueSky is where the bulk of comic creators have landed after a concerning update to Xwitter's Terms of Service agreement. Repost this image (if you dare) Saturday, I decided...
Fun fact: I started typing this email nearly 2 weeks ago, back when I was still pretending I wasn’t dog tired and didn’t need a break after the whirlwind that was New York Comic Con. I crashed into a sleep coma the Tuesday after NYCC and left this message sitting in the drafts. In the week since, I’ve had a major auto repair, a surprise flat tire on my way to vote the next day, and had to put down my mom's family dog. And that was all AFTER the splitting headache that knocked me out last...
New York Comic Con 2024 has finally gone from thing I'm super nervous about to trip I'm SUPER excited for. And as I type this, I’m actually sitting at the gate, waiting to board my flight. I spent most of yesterday frantically packing my bags, then most of this morning putting the final touches on some videos that will premiere on the channel while I’m gone. Speaking of, here’s an early look at today’s video: Check out my NYCC Schedule, plus a look at what I’m bringing with me! I don’t fully...