Fluit Notestag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-12989742010-09-30T21:17:00-04:00By Chris Fluit TypePadOn My Bookshelf, Part 3tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301630184fbad970d2010-09-30T21:17:00-04:002010-09-30T21:17:00-04:00Welcome back. Like a lot of comic book fans, I have a bookshelf full of trade paperbacks and graphic novels. I’ve been having fun writing about the books on my shelf- why I bought them, why I liked them, and...Ana and ChrisOn My Bookshelf, Part 2tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301630184d362970d2010-09-25T21:08:00-04:002010-09-25T21:08:00-04:00I don’t know if this is interesting to anyone other than me, but I’m having fun so I’m going to keep going. For those just joining us, I’m looking at the trade paperbacks and original graphic novels sitting on my...Ana and ChrisOn My Bookshelftag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301630184c884970d2010-09-17T21:00:00-04:002010-09-17T21:00:00-04:00I thought it would be fun to talk about the comic books on my bookshelf. Like a lot of comic book fans, I have a bookshelf full to overflowing of original graphic novels and trade paperback collections. Abe Sapien Vol....Ana and ChrisRetro-Review: Peter David’s Incredible Hulktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330168e77bb303970c2010-09-04T20:51:00-04:002012-02-16T20:59:46-05:00He’s big and gray and mean. He’s the incredible Hulk. And I’ve never really read his adventures before. Oh, I have a few issues of the Hulk: some from the late ‘90s that received as free give-a-ways and a couple...Ana and ChrisThe Best Vacation Spots in the DCUtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134862c7ea4970c2010-08-27T00:37:00-04:002010-08-27T00:37:00-04:00National Tours brings you to the best places on earth! Let National Tours be your guide to both American classics and international getaways. Ranked #1 in customer satisfaction for 70 years. Kooey Kooey Kooey Go krazy in Kooey! This south...Ana and ChrisThe Best Vacation Spots in the Marvel Utag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f308dc30970b2010-08-20T00:07:00-04:002010-08-20T00:07:00-04:00Welcome to Atlas Travel! Whether you’re interested in exotic locations or relaxing vacations, we have the tour for you. Check out some of our most popular packages or design the trip of your dreams. Savage Land Safari Bring your zoom...Ana and ChrisReal Quick Recent Commentstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134862c1107970c2010-08-12T21:17:48-04:002010-08-12T21:18:00-04:00Amazing Spider-Man #636-637 (Grim Hunt Pt. 3-4): A strong ending to a good story. I liked the hunters vs. spiders set-up, the twists along the way (that’s not Ezekiel!) and particularly the new status quo. Kelly did a good job...Ana and ChrisIn Defense of Sequels and Spin-Offstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f2e331b3970b2010-08-06T09:57:03-04:002010-08-06T09:57:03-04:00It happens as regularly as the seasons. At the start of every summer, some pundit writes an article in Entertainment Weekly or Time complaining about the large number of movie sequels. At the beginning of each fall, some critic writes...Ana and ChrisDriving Action vs. Twisting Actiontag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f28cde46970b2010-07-30T00:12:00-04:002010-07-30T00:12:00-04:00There are a myriad number of ways to plot a story, but they all boil down to a basic two: driving action and twisting action. A story with driving action is one that points you to an expected climax or...Ana and ChrisMemories of Comic-Contag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f28cc954970b2010-07-25T21:12:20-04:002010-07-25T21:12:20-04:00Nine years ago this week, I attended my first and only San Diego Comic-Con. I had a one-year internship on the West Coast (just outside of San Francisco) and my wife Anacoqui and I decided to take the trip down...Ana and ChrisInternational Super-Teamstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f28cc81d970b2010-07-25T21:11:05-04:002010-07-25T21:11:05-04:00I’ve always been a fan of international super-teams. Maybe it’s because I was an American-born kid growing up in Canada or a Canadian-raised kid going to school in America. My affinity for superheroes based in other countries inevitably extended to...Ana and ChrisX-Men East, West and Southtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f28cc6a6970b2010-07-25T21:09:34-04:002010-07-25T21:09:34-04:00Didn’t like my idea last week of a thrice-monthly Uncanny X-Men? Don’t worry. I have another one. I’m not saying that there’s a problem with the X-Men the way they are now. I’m not automatically saying that the titles have...Ana and ChrisUncanny, Uncanny, Uncannytag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f28cc501970b2010-07-25T21:07:54-04:002010-07-25T21:07:54-04:00This July, Marvel Comics debuts a new X-Men #1 for the first time since 1991. The new title essentially brings the total number of X-Men titles to four. There’s the title that started it all, Uncanny X-Men, now up to...Ana and ChrisBrightest Day’s Black Eyetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f1c31c15970b2010-06-24T21:49:50-04:002010-06-24T22:18:54-04:00That didn’t take long, did it? It seemed like only yesterday that we were celebrating the possibility of shinier, happier stories. Marvel touted their Heroic Age by proclaiming that heroes would act like heroes again. And DC’s Brightest Day seemed...Ana and Chris100 Greatest Comic Book Characters of the Past 20 Years, Part IItag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f0e1ebae970b2010-06-17T22:30:31-04:002010-06-17T22:30:10-04:00Inspired by an Entertainment Weekly list, I devised my own list of the 100 greatest comic book characters of the last 20 years. I’ve been detailing the entries in alphabetical order and the first half of the list appeared in...Ana and Chris100 Greatest Comic Book Characters of the Past 20 Yearstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f0151796970b2010-06-11T07:41:14-04:002010-06-10T13:48:03-04:00At the end of May, Entertainment Weekly came out with their list of the 100 greatest characters of the past 20 years. The list mostly included characters from film and television, though they threw in a few from novels, plays...Ana and ChrisNewish Number Ones: Generation Lost, Mystery Society and S.H.I.E.L.D.tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301348329c6e8970c2010-06-04T08:57:50-04:002010-06-04T08:57:50-04:00Justice League: Generation Lost (DC) by Keith Giffen, Judd Winick, Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan I wanted to like Generation Lost. The original Justice League by Keith Giffen, J.M. De Matteis and Kevin Maguire was one of the titles that...Ana and ChrisNewish Number Ones: Kill Shakespeare, Fevre Dream and Ultimate Xtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133f00062a9970b2010-06-04T08:55:40-04:002010-06-04T08:55:40-04:00One of the things that I love about comic books is discovering something new: meeting new characters, exploring new universes and finding new titles. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been scouring for something new to love. That doesn’t...Ana and ChrisMemories of Nightcrawlertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134815760ce970c2010-05-21T12:56:09-04:002010-05-21T12:56:09-04:00One of my favorite characters- for almost as long as I’ve been reading comics- is Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler. The funny thing about it is that Nightcrawler wasn’t even in the first issue of X-Men that I bought- Uncanny X-Men...Ana and ChrisWhere Are They Now: CrossGen Part IIItag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133ed96581b970b2010-05-14T07:01:49-04:002010-05-14T07:02:08-04:00CrossGen continued to hire new talent and add new titles in 2002. They eventually expanded to a robust line of twelve monthly titles at which point they seemed poised to become a major player in the comic book industry. However,...Ana and ChrisWhere Are They Now: CrossGen, Part IItag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133ed675909970b2010-05-08T11:00:53-04:002010-05-08T11:00:53-04:00CrossGen launched its comic book line in the summer of 2000 with four titles: Meridian, Mystic, Scion and Sigil. That initial success demonstrated that they were a legitimate, viable comic book company and it allowed them to attract even more...Ana and ChrisWhere Are They Now: CrossGentag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134804a8332970c2010-05-01T09:06:53-04:002010-05-01T09:06:53-04:00In the year 2000, a new comic book company entered the scene. They would eschew the superhero fare that was typical of most comic books and concentrate on underrepresented genres such as science-fiction and fantasy. They would borrow corporate techniques,...Ana and ChrisAstro City’s Season of Discontenttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134801ac169970c2010-04-24T10:50:55-04:002010-04-24T10:50:55-04:00I wish I didn’t have to say it. I wish it wasn’t true. A title that I have long championed is in the midst of a prolonged slump. Astro City: The Dark Age has gotten so bad that I’ve stopped...Ana and ChrisAfter Easter Reviewstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133eceacf20970b2010-04-24T10:17:54-04:002010-04-24T10:17:54-04:00I picked up these comics on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. The Guild #1: Wow. This was a really good comic book. I think I like it even better than the webisodes. The web series pushes hard for...Ana and ChrisI’m Enjoying Spider-Man Now More Than Evertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330134801a9f5d970c2010-04-24T10:16:02-04:002010-04-24T10:16:02-04:00It’s always personal. What we like, what we enjoy. It’s based on our personal preferences. Even more than that, those preferences are based on our personal experiences. Two months ago, the founder and namesake of this community and my friend...Ana and ChrisFour First Issues of Gen 13tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301347f97ba70970c2010-04-02T09:48:30-04:002010-04-02T09:48:30-04:00I’m back for another round. Having previously looked at first issues of Wildcats, Youngblood (15 months ago) and Cyberforce (last week), I’m ready to take on another one of Image’s super-teams. However, this time, I’m moving on to the second...Ana and ChrisFive First Issues of CyberForcetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf88330133ec397efb970b2010-03-25T21:37:28-04:002010-03-25T21:37:28-04:00Fifteen months ago, I took a look at five first issues of Wildcats and Youngblood. It was appropriate at the time as both of those original Image titles had recently come out with new number ones. Jason Marconnet, aka Lime...Ana and ChrisWhat Age Is It Now Anyway? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301310fb924df970c2010-03-18T21:32:39-04:002010-03-18T21:32:39-04:00I’ve been talking about the ages of comics for the past three columns (if you think I’m being long-winded, you should see all of the stuff I left out). Either way, I appreciate your perusal and participation. So far, I’ve...Ana and ChrisWhat Comes After the Bronze Age? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301310f93f615970c2010-03-13T13:23:01-05:002010-03-13T13:23:01-05:00For the past two weeks, I’ve written articles about the various ages of comics. It’s an admittedly academic topic, but one which fascinates me (and interests quite a few readers, judging by the number of comments generated by the past...Ana and ChrisIs There a Bronze Age of Comics? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ee394bf883301310f70a905970c2010-03-06T10:29:13-05:002010-03-06T10:46:55-05:00Last week, I wrote about the possibility of Marvel’s Heroic Age and DC’s Brightest Day ushering in a new age of comics. Along the way, I discussed the previous ages of comics, the eras by which many categorize its history....Ana and Chris