February 21st, 2017
Ryan Franks
On Tuesdays when the shop gets their new comics in to process so that they’re ready for the shelf on Wednesday, we divvy up things up in several stacks. This usually leaves us with a stack for all the big five publishers, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW and Image, as well as a stack for […]
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February 10th, 2017
Ryan Franks
I normally like to balance out my criticisms with things I love about comics, but it’s still early in the year. So, there isn’t a lot for me to praise this year while the comic industry keeps doing things that frustrate me to no end. That being said, with the recent announcement of a new […]
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December 28th, 2016
Ryan Franks
If you clicked on today’s article hoping to hear about Vampirella, Baron Blood, Morbius or Andrew Bennett then I’ve afraid I’m going to disappoint you. No, today’s article is about how the comic book industry is trying to bleed us dry of every penny they can get. First I want to talk about an indy […]
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December 2nd, 2016
Ryan Franks
Given that the holiday season is upon us I want to talk about what we as fans can do to give back to our favorite hobby. I have three suggestions that will help your local comic shop serve you better and help them stay in business. First and most important: the Previews catalog is your […]
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November 23rd, 2016
Ryan Franks
The recent release of Peter Panzerfaust #24 and Bitch Planet #9 has got me thinking about the one sure fire thing, guaranteed to make me drop a comic from my pull list: lateness. I never dropped Peter Panzerfaust. I really like the book; which is the story of Peter Pan with the setting changed to […]
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November 9th, 2016
Ryan Franks
I don’t like dumping on the comic book industry every article. It would sometimes make this easier if I did, but the good things the industry does should be pointed out alongside the bad. That being said we as comic book fans need to look at the things we do for good and ill. There […]
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September 20th, 2016
Ryan Franks
In a previous article I talked about NPR’s coverage of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being on the cover of Civil War Two: Choosing Sides #5 and how it seemed more like a Marvel PR stunt then official international news. This led me to wonder why comic books are so terrible at selling themselves. I […]
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September 7th, 2016
Ryan Franks
NPR had an interesting piece I was listening to recently. Listening to NPR has been a recent change in my morning routine since most of the morning radio programming in the Q-C is either bad music or worse comedy. The piece they had was about the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, appearing in a […]
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August 24th, 2016
Ryan Franks
EDITOR’S NOTE: Local comic book fan Ryan Franks will be writing about comics and comics culture for QuadCities.com as our new columnist. We hope you enjoy his treks into the comics world! My earliest memory of comic books comes from when I was about three. My parents and I were at some kind of family […]
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