Optical Sloth

New review for Marked #1 by Brian John Mitchell & Jeremy Johnson.  Yes, this violates my rule of only having one book from a person on the front page at any given time, but it was just sitting there staring at me, and have I mentioned how I’m out of new comics, and it’s Friday night and get off my back already!

New review today (for a new book, I realize it might be getting a little confusing) for Nathan and the Land of the Robots by Matt Dye, which is also newly available in the store.  I should also mention that I’m moving at the end of the month, so if you have stuff for review you should send it by the end of the week.  Also if you want to buy some comics, just think: your order may clear just enough weight from my comic boxes to prevent some sort of serious back strain during the move.  Think of all the good you could do!

New review for an old book, The Wonderful Year #1 by Rebecca Taylor.  Anybody know how I can contact her these days?  Her website is down.  Don’t forget to scroll down for my review of Robot Bildungsroman #2 by Joe Davidson, as I put 2009 in the update box and it never posted.  First screw-up of the new year!

New review today for Robot Bildungsroman #2 by Joe Davidson, which is a brand new comic, in case you were confused by all the “retro” reviews over the weekend.

New review for the old Get Bent #5/Unshaven Chi #0 by Ben T. Steckler, as I continue my dig through the old mini comics piles.  I’ll probably make more of an official announcement later, but the “big dog” I mentioned who was willing to let me use their books for the comics rental idea?  Fantagraphics.  And I have a TON of their comics from over the years, making the pile of books to rent from a whole lot bigger in one step.  If that news pushes anybody one way or the other (wanting to get on board of wanting out for whatever reason), keep those e-mails coming.

New review for Dirtbag #6 by Dave Kiersh.  Sure, it’s a comic that’s at least 6 years old and maybe not in print any more, but I reviewed it anyway.  Why?  Well, with the comic rental idea slowly coming together, there is going to be an increased focus on earlier minis, especially as I’m finally getting around to putting them in some semblance of order.  I don’t have permission from even a fraction of the people I’m going to need yet to use them in the rental project, so there’s no guarantee that any of the oldies I post up here will be available for rental (although I will note it if they will be for sure), but still, worst case scenario is that you get to be reminded of older stuff you should have gotten when it came out and maybe still can get if you’re lucky.

New review for Beyond the Kuiper Belt #1 by various folks and seriously, if you would like anything reviewed, now is a great time to send comics.  I thought I was totally out before I found this tucked under some other books.

New review for Ultimate Lost Kisses #11 by Brian John Mitchell and Dave Sim.  Yes, you read that correctly.

New review for A Story About Fish by Lauren Barnett, and that makes two days in a row that I remembered to put 2010 for the date.  I have my doubts about keeping that perfect record going.   Oh, and as for the comic rental idea, I just got word from one of the big dogs that they’re OK with the idea, which cements the fact that I’m going to have a hefty pile of comics to start with.  I’m also still trying to get confirmation or denials from individual artists about using their books, so keep those e-mails coming!

New review for Hoax #3 edited by Karl Kressbach, and yes I am still alive, I was just taking advantage of that extra long weekend.  Things should be getting back to normal around here, although I find myself a bit low on review comics, so if you have anything new out send it my way, as there’s no waiting in the review pile.  The comic rental idea seems to be slowly coming together (but keep sending me your comments) and I’m coming around to the idea of compensating the individual creators when their books get rented.  Something in the realm of 3 to 5 cents per rental would go back the creator, probably on a yearly basis, subject to change once I get things rolling and see what I’m dealing with in reality.  I’d love to pay a one time licensing fee like the libraries do, but unless Bill Gates or the Turtles people are reading this and want to hand me a pile of money to get started I just don’t have the resources.  Oh, and if you don’t want your comics included in this for whatever reason, they won’t be included.  I promise not to leave any bitchy messages anywhere complaining about any specific person or hold any grudges.

No reviews today, as I’m leaving town early for a funeral and then staying gone for the holiday weekend.  So to anybody reading this, I have a few questions for you.  Do you have comics on this site that have been reviewed by me?  If so, would you be OK with me using them in my comic rental idea (scroll down the main page for details), as I would be renting my copy to people and linking to your page for anybody who wanted to just buy your comic straight away?  If you’ve already indicated that you’d be OK with this but have other comics friends, would you be a dear and see if it would be OK with them too?  I have big plans for this site for next year, but the comics rental thing is the biggest, and if there are any legal (hey lawyers, you can write in too to tell me if I’m on the right side of the law here) or moral problems I’d love to figure all that out before I really dig in.  Oh, and send everything to whitey@opticalsloth.com, obviously.  Happy New Year everybody!

New review for Liquid Sunshine by Various Artists, and another reminder that something has to be done with that Various Artists page, as it’s comically huge at this point.

New review today for In the Name of Love (R. Kelly Comics) by Scott Longo, and yes, I did take some time off reviewing for the holiday.  Hey, I think I came pretty close with my New Year’s resolution from January of updating every single day this year (or at least making up for it when I missed a day), so I think I earned a bit of slacking at the end of the year.  Keep those ideas coming for the comics rental program, as I’m starting to think this could work extremely well.  I’ve been trying to organize my old minis and I have tons of stuff that was never even put on this page, and plenty of them should be seen by as many people as possible.

New review for Windy Corner Magazine edited by Austin English, also available in the store but you are totally out of luck if you want it by Christmas.  Not sure about the posting schedule around here over the weekend, but the weather may keep me around here after all.  If that’s the case I’ll probably post a review or two but will generally just take it easy.  Keep sending those thoughts on the comic rental idea though (and if you’d be OK with me using the review copies any of you sent me along with any issues I’ve purchased over the years for this project).   Happy Christmas!

New reviews today for Thunder Island #1 by Tim Brown and Great Deeds Against the Dead #2 by Rob Jackson, as I try to make up for lost time this week.  Hey, I’m an actual person, not a comic reviewing machine, and this time of year is hectic for everybody.  Also, keep those thoughts coming on my idea of a comic rental system, as I’m getting some great feedback.  Here’s one thing you can do if you have no strong opinion: would you be OK (as I’m guessing a number of you reading this have comics listed at this site) with me using your comics in this rental plan?  I’d have a “buy now” link that would lead directly to either your website or your publisher’s website, in case somebody wanted to buy your comic after reading it through the rental program.  Would anybody have a problem with this?  If so, why?  If not, why not?  It seems like an idea that could work, but I don’t want to step on any toes here…

New review for Life Meter edited by Dave Roman and containing all sorts of folks.  OK readers, I want some feedback.  I’m looking at a few changes and wanted to get some opinions, so if you come here on a regular basis or just want to throw in your two cents, I’m exploring my options about making the site better and something that I could maybe even make a living off of eventually.  Would advertising alienate any of you?  I’m talking about things like the little Google ads along the side, not the obnoxious popups.  How about some sort of a yearly membership fee, something like $1 or $2 a month?  I’m guessing that one is out, what with all the free content out there and all.  But here’s what I’m really working on: a comic rental process.  It would be just what it sounds like: for a monthly fee anybody who subscribed to it would get comics delivered to their door with a prepaid return envelope in it.  Read your comics (if you wanted to buy any of them that would be made easy as well), put them back in an envelope and I’d send you your next pile when they came back to me.  Full comics on website are fine and all, but I’m trying to keep the actual paper part of comics alive and think that the biggest obstacle to buying comics is the price and not knowing what you’re getting.  Hey, I do this for a “living” and I still won’t buy a $6 tiny mini unless I’m already a fan of the creator.  This would be a means for people to read all sorts of things they’d never get a chance to see otherwise.  Opinions?  Please get back to me at whitey@opticalsloth.com.  Barring some kind of unanticapated legal problem I’m most likely going through with the rental idea, but I really want to know what you all think.  No update tommorrow as I’m going to let this message sit at the top of the page for a while, back to normal on Tuesday.

New review for Dan Taylor’s Ten Itty Bitty Shitty Pieces of Art, and the title refers more to the show where Dan unveiled these pieces rather than the quality of the art.  Oh, and you can buy it in the store.  If you’re still hoping to get some comics from me in time for Christmas, I’ll bring any last minute orders to the post office on Monday and do what I can to get them to you in time, after that there’s very little chance of them arriving in time.

New review for Worms #5 by Brian John Mitchell & Kimberlee Traub, and if you’re wondering how you too could get over a dozen comics onto this page over the course of a year, here’s all you have to do: make over a dozen comics over the course of a year and send them to me.  Good luck!

New review for Ghost Jar #1 by Britney Sabo, and I keep forgetting to mention that Hans Rickheit has original pages of art he’s trying to sell to help pay for a move, so if you’ve read his work and would like an original piece for yourself, help the man out why don’t you?   While I’m pushing comics, for all you procrastinators out there, you have until this weekend if you want to order comics in time for the holidays.  After that I can offer no guarantees about it getting to you on time…

New reviews today for Untitled by Pat Aulisio and Gross Jams by Kris Lachowski, Mary Lachowski & Justin Lynch.  I also posted the review yesterday for Lauren Barnett pretty late, so you might have missed it, and you’ll really regret it if you don’t at least see her title.