Comics Bulletin

Comics Bulletin

URL	www.comicsbulletin.com
Type of 'zine	comic book
Registration	yes
Available language(s):	English
Chief-editor
Owner	Jason Brice
Created by
Launched	January 2000

Comics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.

History

The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comic Books by its New Zealand based publisher/editor Jason Brice. On January 14, 2008, the site was relaunched as Comics Bulletin, in order to avoid confusion with a retail site.

Charity

Silver Bullet contributor Clifford Meth, in a Silver Bullet column called Past Masters, wrote about his efforts to support ailing comic book artist Dave Cockrum. As a result of his advocacy, Marvel Comics announced it would compensate Cockrum for his work in co-creating the X-Men.^{[dead link][1]}

In 2005, Silver Bullet partnered with Aardwolf Publishing to publish a benefit book, benefiting ailing comics writer/artist William Messner-Loebs. Silver Bullet provided advertising and promotion of the project on their site at no charge.^[2]

Controversy and critique

Former Managing Editor Craig R. Johnson became associated with Dave Sim's controversial views on feminism when he stepped into a debate between Sim and the Friends of Lulu Board of Directors to defend freedom of expression in the comic book industry.^[3]

Online comics blogger Johanna Draper Carlson suggested that the name change to Comics Bulletin was the result of pressure from the unrelated but similarly named comics retailer Silver Bullet Comics, "...since SBC had a US trademark registration".^[4] The dispute arose at the same time that the retailer was experiencing criticism and customer complaints.^[5]

Features

Current

• Daily reviews
  • Sunday Slugfest
  • Face Front Fridays: Marvel reviews, Marvel Slugfest(s), a monthly Marvel Top 10 List, preview art, interviews and commentary.
  • Trade Paperback Wednesdays: Reviews of TPBs, softcovers and hardcover graphic novels.

Former column: All The Rage

All The Rage was a news, rumour, gossip and information column from 2000 until the end of 2007.

• Rich Johnston - All The Rage started after The Gutter Press format died. After Rich's Revelations had run for a few years at Twist And Shout Comics, he was asked do the column for proper money at the newly-starting NextPlanetOver. It wasn't that long until the column was killed due to pressure from outside sources.^{[citation needed]} Jason Brice stepped in at that stage^[6] offering a home for a rumors column. It soon seemed that the column was making an impact^{[dead link][7]} on the comics industry, with companies having meetings about how to deal with it. Confidential memos were passed around ordering people not to contact Rich Johnston which they then forwarded to him. After many years Rich was enticed to move to Comic Book Resources.
• Ian Ungstad (aka Mark Miller) Took over the reins, becoming one of the more "infamous" writers of All The Rage due to his self-confessed artistic use of hardcore pornography, poor writing and the ability to offend people. A pattern emerged, where a new contributor may have one or two columns worth of stories in them to tell, but by the third or fourth, it would peter out, get later and later, a family member or pet would die and eventually the column would be restarted by someone else with a bunch of fresh stories.
• Alan Donald - Before he took over the mantle of the Rage-meister he had written a number of articles and reviews for Silver Bullet Comic Books and had run a comic book shop. a former customer and my contact at Silver Bullet Comic Books, Craig Johnson (née Lemon) called me with an offer I couldn't refuse: All The Rage. ATR had changed. It was a conscious decision early on that I couldn't match Rich for sources so instead I'd have some fun with it. The plan was to be entertaining; to review and pull together the week's news; to highlight any underrated series; to try and 'outwrite' Rich in terms of accessibility; and to pop in a few rumours.
• J Hues had written Silver Bullet Comic Books’s Rolling With The Punches satire/humor while Alan Donald was doing ATR. The two switched for a week as part of a fan poll and then the switch became permanent, though it only lasted a few weeks before he got a job offer to go work for Future Comics as their PR/Marketing Manager.
• Markisan Naso then took over the column, hosting it for more than a year. His take on ATR was much more manly and humorous, featuring witty and biting critiques of comic books and their creators. He also introduced more interviews to the weekly mix. Markisan often talked about battle and he detailed his adventures with comic book creators at conventions. He even invited some of his friends to comment on the latest news after they'd had a few beers.
• Blair Marnell was a guest host and source for his predecessor. and eventually took over the column, regularly featuring interviews and focusing more on reportage than gossip and rumour. He wrote the column for two years.
• John Voulieris - occasional guest host for Blair, John took over the column.
• Steven G Saunders

Current columnists

• Park Cooper and Barb Lien Cooper: "The Park & Barb Show"
• Paul Brian McCoy, Chris Murman and Matt Spatola]]: "What Looks Good"
• Jim Kingman: "Comic Effect"
• Regie Rigby: "Fool Britannia"
• Beau Smith: "Busted Knuckles"
• Zack Davisson: "Comics Grind and Rewind"
• Ace Masters: "The Burning Mind"
• Paul Brian McCoy: "Mondo Marvel"
• Steven Savage: "Mission Professional"
• Daniel Elkin: "Cheap Thrills"
• Penny Kenny: "For Kids and Tweens"
• Tommy Hancock: "Pulp Never Dies"
• Barry Reese: "Pulp Fiction"

Former columnists

• Donna Barr: "Submission Engine"
• Tom Brevoort: "Brevoort's History of Comics"
• Rich Johnston: "All The Rage"
• Bill Messner-Loebs: "Storytelling"
• Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray: "Two In The Chamber"
• Bob Rozakis: "The Answer Man"
• Buddy Scalera: "Hey, Buddy!"
• Brandon Thomas: "Ambidextrous"
• Marv Wolfman: "What Th--?"
• Shon C. Bury: "In the Trenches"
• Tony Lee: "He’s Only a Writer… and It’s More than Just a Comic"
• Clifford Meth: "Meth Addict"
• Robert Murray: "Vertigo Spotlight: Postcards from the Ledge, a weekly look at DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint;
• Michael Pellerito: "Entertainment for Every Age"
• Darren Schroeder: "Small Press Printed Matter"

Awards

As Silver Bullet Comic Books, the site has been the recipient of a number of awards and award nominations, including:

• 2004 Eagle Award nomination for "Favourite Comics E-Zine"^[8]
• 2005 Eagle Award winner for "Favourite Comics-Related Website"^[9]
• 2006 Eagle Award nomination for "Favourite Comics-Related Website"^[10]
• 2006 Gibson Comic Awards nominated for "Favourite Web Related Material"^[11]

Acknowledgements

Bangladesh Info listed Silver Bullet amongst the top 50 best websites.^[12]

Silver Bullet featured in the Shirley Horrocks documentary The Comics Show (about the comics scene in New Zealand) in an interview with founder Jason Brice.^[13]

In 2001 the technology magazine NetGuide listed Silver Bullet and recommended it to its readers.^[14]

References

1. ^ Michael Dean (2004). "Marvel Makes Dave Cockrum an Offer He Can't Refuse". The Comics Journal. http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=314&Itemid=48. Retrieved 2008-01-24. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Jonah Weiland (February 17, 2005). "AARDWORLF TO PUBLISH BILL MESSNER-LOEBS BENEFIT BOOK". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=4618. 
3. ^ Dave Sim (2007). "Craig R. Johnson defends Dave Sim". Dave Sim's blogandmail. http://davesim.blogspot.com/2007/03/dave-sims-blogandmail-171-march-1st.html. Retrieved 2008-01-26. 
4. ^ Johanna Draper Carlson (2007). "Johanna Draper Carlson claims comics retailer pressured Silver Bullet Comic Books to change its name". Comics Worth Reading. http://comicsworthreading.com/2007/10/22/silver-bullet-comics-dead/. Retrieved 2008-01-26. 
5. ^ JK Parkin (2007). "Comics retailer and Silver Bullet Comic Books go head to head". Newsarama. http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/10/15/silver-bullet-comic-books-to-become-comics-bulletin/. Retrieved 2008-01-26. 
6. ^ Marnell, Blair. "Retrospective: The first Five years of All the Rage". Comics Bulletin. accessed July 26, 2011.
7. ^ "Online Comics Journalism: Does It Exist? Part 3: Rich Johnston's Honest Lying"^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "The Eagle Awards - Results 2005". Eagle Awards. 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-11-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20071128074440/http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/results.asp?year=2004. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
9. ^ "The Eagle Awards - Results 2005". Eagle Awards. 2005. http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/results.asp?year=2005. Retrieved 2008-01-24. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "The Eagle Awards - Results 2006". Eagle Awards. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20071013192737/http://eagleawards.co.uk/results.asp?year=2006. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
11. ^ "Gibson Comic Awards". Gibson Comic Awards. 2006. http://gca.comics.co.nz/2006winners.php. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
12. ^ "The Top 50 Best Websites". BangladeshInfo.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009003141/http://www.bangladeshinfo.com/it/feature03.php. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
13. ^ "Silver Bullet founder interviewed on The Comics Show". The Comics Show. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20071214062452/http://www.comics.org.nz/wiki/index.php/The_Comics_Show. Retrieved 2008-01-25. 
14. ^ Listed in Netguide Magazine 2001 (ISSN=1176 1318)

External links

• Comics Bulletin